By Kenneth Cross
Although Texas led 64-51 on a Tyrese Hunter layup with 13:29 remaining in the Midwest Regional Final on Sunday evening, Miami had one last opportunity to use its talent to secure a berth in the next weekend’s Final Four in Houston.
Miami finished fervently as the Hurricanes outscored the Longhorns, 22-9, over the last 7:50 to take an 87-81 win over Texas and secure the first Final Four berth in the basketball history of the Miami Hurricanes.
Jordan Miller continued his perfect shooting over the game’s last eight minutes as well as he led all scorers with 27 points in his 39 minutes. He was also 7-of-7 from the floor and he gave Texas a tough matchup as the Longhorns could only try to stop him by putting him on the free-throw line.
“These guys are sensational players, each and every one of them,” said Hurricanes head coach Jim Larrañaga. “The game Jordan Miller had is ridiculous. 7-for-7 from – how many points did he end up with? 27. That’s pretty good to score 27 points on seven shots.”
Isaiah Wong had a tough first half as he had only two points and had taken two shots. His second half saw him score 12 of his 14 points and his jumper with 4:40 remaining was Miami’s last field goal and it tied Texas at 75-75.
“Isaiah was great,” Larrañaga continued. “We called a play for him towards the end of the game, and he just scores. We called a play for Wooga Poplar at the end of the first half because we were in desperate need of a bucket. He made a jump shot. He’s absolutely sensational at that.”
Poplar finished with 16 points as he scored seven of Miami’s last nine points in the first half as the Longhorns scored at will in building a 45-37 halftime lead. Texas made 17-of-31 field goals in the first half and outscored Miami, 12-6, over the last 3:15 of the half.
Poplar’s defense on Sir’Jabari Rice was strong in that Wright scored of his eight points not only early, but in a run. Poplar could change his defense into offense and score as his jumper with 7:58 started an 11-0 Hurricanes run that gave them a 73-72 lead when Norchad Omier scored on an and-one with 5:26 remaining.
In addition to Miller’s 27 points, Poplar scored 16 points with 15 for Nigel Pack as Wong and Omier were the two other Hurricanes in double figures with 14 and 11, respectively.
“It’s just an honor being around these guys,” said Wong. “We all show appreciation. We all love each other. And we’re all just here sticking to each other.”
Marcus Carr led four Longhorns in double figures with 17 points while Timmy Allen scored 16 and Sir’Jabari Rice adding the 15.
Texas controlled the game throughout most of the first half and then then first eight minutes of the second half. This Longhorns’ performance and work ethic should have solidified the head coaching position for Rodney Perry, who has worked as an interim-head coach since the firing of Chris Beard in early January.
“These guys, more than any group I’ve worked with in 32 years of coaching, have really embodied in terms of staying the course and being a team,” said Texas coach Rodney Terry. “These guys were incredible teammates all year. They were so unselfish as a team, and they gave us everything they had. They really did.”