Jordan Miller posted a team-high 18 points as top-seeded Miami defeated ninth-seeded Wake Forest 74-72 on Thursday afternoon in an ACC tournament quarterfinal at Greensboro, N.C.
Daivien Williamson, who scored 14 points, missed a half-court shot at the buzzer that would’ve won the game for Wake Forest. Williams beat Syracuse on Wednesday with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, albeit at much closer range.
Miami (25-6), ranked 14th in the nation, advanced to the semifinals on Friday night.
Wake Forest (19-14) was led by Tyree Appleby, who had a game-high 24 points, five assists and three turnovers.
Cameron Hildreth added 17 points for Wake.
Miami’s Isaiah Wong, the ACC Player of the Year, had 17 points and five assists. Norchad Omier, Miami’s third-team All-ACC post player, had 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Miller added nine rebounds and five assists. Nijel Pack went scoreless in the first half and fouled out with 2:44 left. It was the first foul-out of his career, and he finished with nine points.
Wake Forest, which is 0-4 against Miami over the past two years, was playing on short rest. The Hurricanes hadn’t played since Saturday.
Miami led at halftime, 34-29, but that was only after a 55-foot swish by Hildreth was ruled to have been released a split-second after the intermission buzzer.
Neither team shot the ball well in the first half, especially Wake Forest at 42.9 percent, including 3-for-13 on 3-pointers.
Miami shot 46.9 percent, 2-for-9 from deep. Miami, though, had a 20-14 edge on rebounds, 7-3 on the offensive glass.
Miller led all first-half scorers with 13 points. Appleby had nine points for Wake, but he made just 4 of 11 shots, 1-for-6 from distance.
At the start of the second half, Miami shot 4 of 6 from the floor, taking a 44-33 with 17:13 left. The Hurricanes stretched their lead to 18 points with 9:51 remaining, their biggest of the game, but Wake Forest rallied before coming up just short.
For the game, Miami shot 52.5 percent, including 6-for-19 on 3-pointers. Wake shot 40.9 percent, but the Demon Deacons stayed in the game with 11-for-31 shooting on 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media