No Angel Rodriguez. No Tonye Jekiri. No NCAA Tournament. No problem for the Miami Hurricanes, who channeled their post-season-snub disappointment into a four-game win-streak in the NIT and a berth in Thursday’s title game against the Stanford Cardinal.
After wins over North Carolina Central and Alabama at home and Richmond in Virginia, a short-handed Miami squad earned a trip to Madison Square Garden and took down the Temple Owls, 60-57 in gritty fashion on Tuesday night.
Similar to the way the Canes trailed Richmond by 18 points last week, Miami was down 11 against Temple early on, but rallied back, down five at the half.
Sheldon McClellan led the way for the Canes, scoring in double-figures for the 30th time this season. He finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and was flawless from the free throw line (4-of-4)—12 points coming in the second half, including back-to-back 3-pointers with about eight minutes remaining, putting Miami up for good.
Rodriguez was again out from the get-go, courtesy of a sprained wrist and Jekiri suffered a first-half concussion that will also keep him out of Thursday’s final against Stanford.
Temple had their chances late, but couldn’t capitalize. Quenton DeCosey missed back-to-back free throws in the final minute, as well as a game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer—leaving the Owls 0-of-15 from behind the arc in the second half.
Miami—the best free throw-shooting team in the ACC—kept the door open for overtime when DeAndre Burnett missed the front-end of a one-and-one from the line, instead of pushing the lead to four or five.
The year’s tourney appearance marks the Canes’ 12th trip to the NIT, with an 11-11 overall record. Miami is 1-0 in the semifinals and will be playing for their first championship this Thursday. Regarding the 25 wins, it’s the Canes’ second-most in school history, trailing 29 wins in the 2012-2013 season, where Miami fell to Marquette in the Sweet 16.
Miami and Stanford will tip off at 9:00 p.m. ET on Thursday April 2nd at Madison Square Garden for the NIT championship, with the game broadcast nationally on ESPN.