The Miami Hurricanes knocked off the Virginia Tech Hokies for the second time in five days—the most-recent keeping the dream alive in regards to an NCAA Tournament berth.
While not as dominant as the two previous 20-plus point beat downs, the Canes rolled, 59-49 and live to see another day in Greensboro at the ACC Tournament—set to face third-seeded Notre Dame on Thursday night, where a win all but punches Miami’s ticket to The Big Dance.
Angel Rodriguez saw a brief return for the Hurricanes, but it was junior Sheldon McClellan who stole the show—going 40 minutes and scoring a game-high 16 points.
Davon Reed added 10 points of his own, including a clutch 3-pointer in the game’s final minutes, helping create separation and pull away late as Miami never led by double-digits until the game’s final minute.
After a slow start, the Canes led 25-19 at the half and finished 20-of-47 on field goals, shot 43-percent on field goals, was 5-of-14 on 3-pointers and 14-of-18 on free throws, pulling down 33 rebounds on the night. Miami also blocked four shots, turned the ball over eight times and had nine assists.
Thursday’s night’s showdown with Notre Dame will be Miami’s second on the season, having taken on the Fighting Irish in South Bend mid-January, days after a 24-point upset of Duke at Cameron Indoor.
The Canes fell to the Irish, 75-70 after leading by as many as 12 points in the second half. Jerian Grant came alive for Notre Dame, by way of a 23-point performance while the Irish got hot from beyond-the-arc, going 7-of-9 after only hitting 2-of-23 prior to.
After a 9-0 run hallways through the second half, the Irish took their first lead of the game on a one-handed floater by Steve Vasturia with 9:31 remaining.
Miami and Notre Dame will tip-off at 9:00 p.m. ET on Thursday night in Greensboro.