Down five at the half, No. 7 Miami rallied behind the heart of Jack McClinton and pulled out a 14-point victory over No. 10 seed St. Mary’s, 78-64.
Miami trailed St. Mary’s 32-27 at the half. Over the next 20 minutes, McClinton and the entire St. Mary’s squad were each good for 32 points.
For those who wondered which Canes team would show up in the post-season, that question has been answered. Miami came to play and looks like they’re getting hot at the right time. Next up, an Easter Sunday showdown with No. 2 Texas.
For those who haven’t heard by now, Miami head coach Frank Haith was an assistant under Texas head coach Rick Barnes. The two are best friends and neither looks forward to the match up, for the sake of taking the other out of the tourney.
For Miami to pull the upset, the Canes will need more than a heavy dose of McClinton. Other role players need to step up. Pulling down rebounds and winning the battle from the free throw line are equally as important. Miami is one of the ACC’s best from the stripe and that needs to continue if the Canes want to advance. Conversely, Texas’ Damion Jones struggles from the line, which is a weakness of the Longhorns.
Another interesting subplot – the Haith vs. Barnes coaching battle. Can the pupil best the teacher? How much did Haith learn from Barnes? How much does he remember regarding Texas’ philosophies and tendencies? When you look at this match up it definitely puts the pressure on the Longhorns. The Canes truly have nothing to lose.
Sunday’s tip off is 2:15pm EDT on CBS. Tune in to see if the Canes can shock the Horns and shake up a few more brackets.
Dwayne Collins must get his head right and give us something tomorrow. If he does we could shock the nation. If he doesn’t our outstanding and wonderful year ends on a somewhat sour note.
It’s gotta be the shoes!!
if we plan on winning Sunday we need more than just McClintion and Collions…Hopefully Dews and Hurdle can get on track and start making some shots. I think we need graham to have a big, big game defensivly, but hopefully not fouling out.
nobody is giving the canes a chance in epic battle however i was watching ESPN and sportsnation gave texas a win by 93% like you said miami has got nothin’ to lose and i just hope they can shock the nation and the longhorns keep this momentum goin and maybe make it to the final 4 or even better the national championship!!! GO CANES!!!