CANES OUST FINAL NO. 1 SEED: COUGS
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 or No. 3 seed Xavier 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, Ky. 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 doubledouble 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 TMobile 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.”
No. 2 Texas 83, No. 3 Xavier 71: Tyrese Hunter scored 19 points, Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop added 18 apiece, and Texas rolled to an victory over Xavier to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years.
Playing most of the way without ailing star Dylan Disu, the Longhorns — the highest seed left after No. 1s Alabama and Houston lost earlier in the night — built a 4225 lead by halftime. They quickly pushed it past 20 before cruising the rest of the way into a matchup with fifth-seeded Miami on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four in Houston.
Sir’Jabari Rice had 16 points and Timmy Allen added 11 for the Longhorns (29-8), who kept Souley Boum and the rest of Xavier’s perimeter threats in check while making life miserable for Jack Nunge down low.
Adam Kunkel hit five 3-pointers and led the Musketeers (27-10) with 21 points.