Pack packs a wallop
Late hot streak leads Hurricanes to close win over Virginia Tech
CORAL GABLES — Nijel Pack was ice cold to start Tuesday night.
The Hurricanes point guard did not score for the first 32 minutes against Virginia Tech, but he caught fire when Miami needed him most.
Pack drained five second-half three-pointers to vault the No. 23 Hurricanes (17-5, 8-4 ACC) over the Hokies (13-9, 3-8 ACC) 92-83 at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables. Miami has won 11 straight home games.
“[It felt] insane,” Pack said. “I felt like if I would’ve shot it from half court, I could’ve messed around and made it. My teammates believed in any shot I took. I remember I took one and I wasn’t even looking; I was kind of facing out of bounds, and they were already standing up. It was really fun to play with this crowd, especially, behind me.”
Pack started the game slowly, but teammates Isaiah Wong, Norchad Omier and Jordan Miller helped carry Miami early in the game.
Wong had 16 first-half points, and Omier sunk his first eight shot attempts. But the Hokies kept pace with their second-best shooting game of the season, ending the contest with a 56.9 shooting percentage.
“They also can really score; they can really shoot the three,” Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said. “I looked up early in the game, they were 4-for-5 from three, 80 percent, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I hope that doesn’t continue.’ But they’re a terrific team.”
The Hurricanes cooled off in the middle of the second half, and Virginia Tech went on a 9-2 run in the middle of the second half as Miami went without a point for 2:58.
The scoring drought caused the Hurricanes to fall behind by five points. Miami soon tied the game back up on Pack’s first three.
Neither the Hurricanes nor the Hokies could get a decisive edge over the other, and the game featured 17 lead changes. The last came on a Pack layup with 3:37 left in the game, and the Hokies never got back ahead of Miami.
Four Hurricanes finished Tuesday’s game in double digits. Omier led Miami with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Pack had 17 points, Wong had 18 and Miller had 14.
“I feel like we’ve been saying it all year: We’re a high-octane scoring team,” Miller said. “Our focal point has been on the defensive side. We can always be better at that. But like I said, I don’t think any night will be a problem of: Can we get enough points to win the game? It will be: Can we get enough stops to win the game?”
Pack’s five threes in the second half helped give Miami the momentum it needed to close out the Hokies and get back in the win column following a heartbreaking loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Hurricanes will try to keep their winning momentum on the road against Clemson (which lost to Boston College on Tuesday) on Saturday.
“We’ve struggled recently in finishing games,” Miller said. “We knew that’s a big key for us. We know we can finish games. It just hasn’t gone our way with mistakes that we’ve made.”