Miami beats No. 1 seed Houston; all four top NCAA seeds out
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Knocking No. 1 seed Houston out of the NCAA Tournament made Jim Larrañaga feel like dancing.
Much to his players' delight, the 73-year-old Miami coach busted moves straight out of the disco era in the locker room Friday night to celebrate an 89-75 Sweet 16 victory that left the tournament without a No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979.
Larrañaga is known to dance in the locker room after his biggest wins, and this one in the Big Dance surely qualified.
“We were all hyped up,” Jordan Miller said. “We love when Coach L dances. That’s probably the best celebration we could look forward to.”
Nijel Pack and Miami (28-7) hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country as the Hurricanes became only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston (33-4).
“We just wanted it really bad,” Miller said. “We came into this game as the underdogs. We had a lead throughout the whole game. I wouldn’t say a comfortable lead, but a lead, and we just didn’t want to let up.”
The fifth-seeded Hurricanes made their second straight Elite Eight and will play second-seeded Texas in the Midwest Region final. Larrañaga is seeking his first Final Four with Miami and second overall - he took George Mason there as an 11 seed in 2006.
About 30 minutes before Houston's loss, top overall seed Alabama fell to San Diego State in Louisville, Kentucky. Fellow No. 1 seeds Purdue and Kansas lost during the tournament's first weekend.
The Cougars simply couldn’t stop a multifaceted Miami offense led by Pack’s 3-point shooting. He had season highs of seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts and 26 points.
Isaiah Wong’s mid-range game helped get the 'Canes out to a fast start, and he finished with 20 points. Miller hurt the Cougars with his penetration and had 13 points, and Norchad Omier was his usual rugged self under the basket while recording his 16th double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
“We emphasized moving the ball and finding the open man, and the guys did such a fantastic job from start to finish,” Larrañaga said. “We only ended up with six turnovers. So that’s the name of the game. And we tied them in rebounding. A great performance by our guys.”
It was Pack who hit big shot after big shot, some from near the logo. He was comfortable inside T-Mobile Arena, where he played five games during his two seasons at nearby Kansas State.
“It’s a blessing to be back in this arena for sure," Pack said. “My teammates found me early and kept me going. They instilled confidence in me from the jump ball. They kept feeding me and telling me to shoot the ball, and I shot it with a lot of confidence, and they were able to go in.”
Houston was in the Sweet 16 for a fourth straight time, had won 15 of its last 16 games and had the season-long goal of playing in next week’s Final Four in its home city.
“Unfortunately, one off-night and you go home in this tournament,” Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. “We just never could get a foothold. We kept climbing, and we’d get ahead of them, and then we just couldn’t put stops together.”
Miami used a 16-5 run spanning the halves to go up by double digits, with Omier’s three-point play and Miller’s short bank-in with the left hand making it 47-36 and prompting Sampson to call timeout less than two minutes into the second half.
Houston battled back to make it a two-point game, but then Pack made three 3s and Miller and Wooga Poplar hit one each to fuel a 16-2 run that put the Canes ahead 70-53. The lead grew to as much as 17 points, and Houston never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Walker led the Cougars with 16 points. Jamal Shead added 15 and All-American Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark had 14 apiece for the Cougars, who shot just 37% overall and 29% from distance.
“It was an amazing run,” Sasser said. “Came up short, but the time that we got to spend throughout these months, I couldn’t have asked for nothing better.”
Houston - which came into the game as a 7.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook - found itself behind at half for the second straight game after the Hurricanes played their sharpest half of the tournament.
Miami turned the ball over just once the first 20 minutes, converted Miami’s six turnovers into 15 points and shot 6 of 14 from distance against the second-best 3-point defense in the country.
Pack made four of them, and all were timely. His first three gave Miami leads and his fourth broke a 31-all tie.
“The Pack kid, some of the shots he made were shots you hope he takes,” Sampson said. “The problem was he made them. Some of those were Howitzers.”
Oh, about that dance Larrañaga did. He said it was to the Commodores’ 1985 song “Nightshift.”
Miller gave his coach’s moves a grade of A.
“Not an A-plus - it was a little stiff,” Miller said. “But he’s still very mobile for his age.”
BIG DAY FOR THE U
The Hurricanes reached the regional final just a few hours after Miami’s ninth-seeded women’s team hung on to beat Villanova and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Miami and UConn are the only schools with teams remaining in both tournaments.
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Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | Norchad Omier vs. Jarace Walker (Marcus Sasser gains possession) | |||
19:47 | Marcus Sasser misses three point jump shot | |||
19:45 | Isaiah Wong defensive rebound | |||
19:38 | Isaiah Wong misses two point pullup jump shot | |||
19:36 | Tramon Mark defensive rebound | |||
19:24 | Jarace Walker misses three point jump shot | |||
19:22 | Wooga Poplar defensive rebound | |||
19:09 | Norchad Omier misses two point driving layup | |||
19:07 | Jarace Walker defensive rebound | |||
18:56 | Jump ball. J'wan Roberts vs. Nijel Pack (Nijel Pack gains possession) | |||
18:56 | J'wan Roberts turnover (lost ball) (Nijel Pack steals) | |||
18:38 | Wooga Poplar misses three point jump shot | |||
18:36 | Jarace Walker defensive rebound | |||
18:20 | +2 | Marcus Sasser makes two point jump shot (Jamal Shead assists) | 0-2 | |
17:48 | Wooga Poplar misses two point pullup jump shot | |||
17:46 | Norchad Omier offensive rebound | |||
17:40 | +3 | Nijel Pack makes three point jump shot (Jordan Miller assists) | 3-2 | |
17:20 | Jamal Shead turnover (bad pass) | |||
16:58 | +3 | Isaiah Wong makes three point pullup jump shot | 6-2 | |
16:56 | Jamal Shead shooting foul (Isaiah Wong draws the foul) | |||
16:56 | +1 | Isaiah Wong makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 7-2 | |
16:31 | +3 | Tramon Mark makes three point jump shot (Jarace Walker assists) | 7-5 | |
16:08 | Norchad Omier misses two point driving layup | |||
16:06 | Jarace Walker defensive rebound | |||
15:58 | +2 | Tramon Mark makes two point jump shot | 7-7 | |
15:33 | +2 | Jordan Miller makes two point driving layup | 9-7 | |
15:17 | +3 | Tramon Mark makes three point jump shot (Jamal Shead assists) | 9-10 | |
14:56 | +2 | Isaiah Wong makes two point pullup jump shot | 11-10 | |
14:31 | Tramon Mark misses two point jump shot | |||
14:26 | J'wan Roberts offensive rebound | |||
14:26 | J'wan Roberts misses two point layup | |||
14:25 | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | |||
14:13 | +2 | Wooga Poplar makes two point turnaround fadeaway jump shot | 13-10 | |
13:54 | Jamal Shead misses two point driving layup | |||
13:52 | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | |||
13:47 | Marcus Sasser shooting foul (Isaiah Wong draws the foul) | |||
13:47 | TV timeout | |||
13:47 | +1 | Isaiah Wong makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 14-10 | |
13:47 | +1 | Isaiah Wong makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 15-10 | |
13:30 | +2 | Jarace Walker makes two point pullup jump shot (Marcus Sasser assists) | 15-12 | |
13:09 | Wooga Poplar misses three point jump shot | |||
13:07 | Jarace Walker defensive rebound | |||
12:57 | Anthony Walker blocks Tramon Mark's two point driving layup | |||
12:55 | Cougars offensive rebound | |||
12:55 | Wooga Poplar personal foul (Tramon Mark draws the foul) | |||
12:49 | Tramon Mark misses two point pullup jump shot | |||
12:47 | Hurricanes defensive rebound | |||
12:25 | +2 | Anthony Walker makes two point dunk (Bensley Joseph assists) | 17-12 | |
12:08 | Bensley Joseph shooting foul (Marcus Sasser draws the foul) | |||
12:08 | +1 | Marcus Sasser makes regular free throw 1 of 3 | 17-13 | |
12:08 | +1 | Marcus Sasser makes regular free throw 2 of 3 | 17-14 | |
12:08 | +1 | Marcus Sasser makes regular free throw 3 of 3 | 17-15 | |
11:46 | Bensley Joseph misses three point jump shot | |||
11:44 | Marcus Sasser defensive rebound | |||
11:34 | Marcus Sasser turnover (lost ball) (Bensley Joseph steals) | |||
11:29 | +2 | Jordan Miller makes two point dunk (Bensley Joseph assists) | 19-15 | |
11:08 | Marcus Sasser misses three point jump shot | |||
11:06 | Nijel Pack defensive rebound | |||
11:04 | Bensley Joseph misses three point jump shot | |||
11:02 | Reggie Chaney defensive rebound | |||
10:49 | +2 | Reggie Chaney makes two point layup (Jamal Shead assists) | 19-17 | |
10:35 | Nijel Pack misses three point jump shot | |||
10:33 | Jarace Walker defensive rebound | |||
10:21 | Jamal Shead misses three point jump shot | |||
10:19 | Harlond Beverly defensive rebound | |||
10:05 | Harlond Beverly misses three point jump shot | |||
10:03 | Jamal Shead defensive rebound | |||
9:55 | +3 | Marcus Sasser makes three point jump shot (Jamal Shead assists) | 19-20 | |
9:28 | +3 | Nijel Pack makes three point jump shot (Harlond Beverly assists) | 22-20 | |
9:04 | +3 | Emanuel Sharp makes three point jump shot (Jarace Walker assists) | 22-23 | |
8:39 | Jarace Walker blocks Jordan Miller's two point driving layup | |||
8:38 | Emanuel Sharp defensive rebound | |||
8:38 | Jordan Miller personal foul (Emanuel Sharp draws the foul) | |||
8:38 | TV timeout | |||
8:29 | Jamal Shead turnover (bad pass) (Anthony Walker steals) | |||
8:12 | +3 | Nijel Pack makes three point pullup jump shot | 25-23 | |
7:45 | Emanuel Sharp misses two point floating jump shot | |||
7:43 | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | |||
7:38 | +2 | Anthony Walker makes two point dunk (Nijel Pack assists) | 27-23 | |
7:17 | Jamal Shead misses three point jump shot | |||
7:15 | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | |||
7:10 | +2 | Nijel Pack makes two point layup (Norchad Omier assists) | 29-23 | |
7:08 | Cougars 30 second timeout | |||
7:08 | TV timeout | |||
6:58 | +3 | Jarace Walker makes three point jump shot (J'wan Roberts assists) | 29-26 | |
6:31 | Anthony Walker misses two point pullup jump shot | |||
6:29 | Marcus Sasser defensive rebound | |||
6:25 | +3 | Emanuel Sharp makes three point jump shot (Marcus Sasser assists) | 29-29 | |
5:57 | +2 | Isaiah Wong makes two point driving floating jump shot (Norchad Omier assists) | 31-29 | |
5:34 | Jarace Walker misses three point jump shot | |||
5:32 | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | |||
5:30 | Norchad Omier turnover (lost ball) | |||
5:30 | TV timeout | |||
5:21 | Marcus Sasser misses two point pullup jump shot | |||
5:19 | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | |||
5:14 | Emanuel Sharp personal foul (Isaiah Wong draws the foul) | |||
5:11 | Isaiah Wong misses two point jump shot | |||
5:09 | Tramon Mark defensive rebound | |||
4:58 | Emanuel Sharp misses three point jump shot | |||
4:56 | Jarace Walker offensive rebound | |||
4:48 | Jordan Miller shooting foul (Jarace Walker draws the foul) | |||
4:48 | +1 | Jarace Walker makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 31-30 | |
4:48 | +1 | Jarace Walker makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 31-31 | |
4:36 | +3 | Nijel Pack makes three point jump shot (Isaiah Wong assists) | 34-31 | |
4:13 | Jarace Walker misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
4:11 | Tramon Mark offensive rebound | |||
3:57 | Tramon Mark turnover (lost ball) (Norchad Omier steals) | |||
3:54 | +2 | Norchad Omier makes two point layup (Nijel Pack assists) | 36-31 | |
3:54 | Emanuel Sharp shooting foul (Norchad Omier draws the foul) | |||
3:54 | TV timeout | |||
3:54 | +1 | Norchad Omier makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 37-31 | |
3:32 | +2 | J'wan Roberts makes two point layup (Jarace Walker assists) | 37-33 | |
3:12 | Nijel Pack misses two point floating jump shot | |||
3:10 | Marcus Sasser defensive rebound | |||
3:07 | Marcus Sasser turnover (bad pass) | |||
2:55 | +3 | Anthony Walker makes three point stepback jump shot | 40-33 | |
2:36 | Anthony Walker personal foul (Jamal Shead draws the foul) | |||
2:18 | Wooga Poplar blocks Jarace Walker's two point pullup jump shot | |||
2:16 | Isaiah Wong defensive rebound | |||
1:56 | Nijel Pack misses three point jump shot | |||
1:54 | Isaiah Wong offensive rebound | |||
1:48 | Wooga Poplar misses three point jump shot | |||
1:46 | Jarace Walker defensive rebound | |||
1:28 | +3 | Marcus Sasser makes three point jump shot (Jarace Walker assists) | 40-36 | |
1:03 | Jarace Walker blocks Norchad Omier's two point dunk | |||
1:01 | Marcus Sasser defensive rebound | |||
0:36 | Marcus Sasser misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
0:34 | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | |||
0:20 | Hurricanes 30 second timeout | |||
0:04 | Terrance Arceneaux shooting foul (Isaiah Wong draws the foul) | |||
0:04 | +1 | Isaiah Wong makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 41-36 | |
0:04 | +1 | Isaiah Wong makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 42-36 | |
0:01 | Anthony Walker blocks Tramon Mark's three point pullup jump shot | |||
0:00 | Cougars offensive rebound | |||
0:00 | End of period |