Homecoming dreams dashed
Hurricanes complete Lone Star two-step, storm past Longhorns with rally in the second-half
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Miami coach Jim Larrañaga wasn’t foolish enough to believe Texas would lose its sense of self even with its newfound star suddenly sidelined. All year long, these Longhorns have emphasized that it can be anyone on any night — and often, it’s not any-one, it’s every-one.
“Here’s the thing about a team like Texas, they have a lot of good players, and you can’t just focus your attention on the player,” Larrañaga said about 24 hours before Sunday’s tip at the T-Mobile Center. “You have to focus on how they play together.”
And this group of Longhorns, sans Dylan Disu, the star senior forward who’d averaged 22.5 points and 10 rebounds while emerging as soft-shooting sensation over the first two rounds, left everything out on the floor Sunday night in front of 17,530 fans at the T-Mobile Center. But in the end, fifthseeded Miami had enough left in the tank to stage a second-half rally and dash second-seeded Texas’ dream of playing in next week’s Final Four back in its home state.
The Hurricanes (29-7) overcame a 13-point deficit to win 88-81 and advance to the national semifinals of the NCAA men’s tournament. Texas (29-9), which was seeking its first trip to the Final Four since 2003, finished with the third-most wins in program history.
“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,” Texas interim coach Rodney Terry said. “These guys were incredible teammates all year. They were so unselfish as a team, and they gave us everything they had.”
Miami cruised to a 7-0 lead on three straight layups, the third an and-1 finish by fifth-year senior guard Jordan Miller. His forays to the rim would become a theme — and decisive factor — later on. And during those early moments, it seemed these Longhorns would indeed be sunk without the defensive presence of the 6foot-9 Disu, their tallest player and best rim protector.
But Texas, as fifth-year senior forward Timmy Allen likes to say, “never trips” when things look bleak. Especially not with so much game left to play.
Fifth-year forward Christian Bishop, starting for the injured Disu, steadied his team with a couple of free throws to get that zero off the board. From there, it was on.
Texas captured its first lead with a 9-0 run sparked by super subs Brock Cunningham and Sir’Jabari Rice. The latter kicked it off with a 3, and Cunningham started causing his familiar brand of destruction on the offensive glass and defensive end. He even sprinkled in a layup, a sign of the seismic impact the longesttenured Longhorn and his benchmates would have on the first half.
The back and forth was frantic. Texas spaced the floor, set up its scoring with screen actions and transition chances. Miami just about abandoned the 3-ball, instead attacking downhill, using its bigbodied finishers and quicksilver guards to try taking advantage of the Longhorns’ lack of size.
Texas gained its first bit of breathing room off a pair of 3s by freshman sub Arterio Morris, both off well-timed kickouts from teammates. By halftime, Texas led 45-37.
The Longhorns pushed their lead to 13 on one of Rice’s 3s with 14:24 remaining, the biggest cushion of the game for either team.
Then, the refs took over and the game ground to a halt with both teams in the bonus with about 10 minutes to go. And the freeflowing Texas offense that flummoxed Miami in the first half and the early portion of the second fell into a prolonged slump — UT hit just one field goal over a six-minute stretch as Miami climbed back into it with an array of mid-range jumpers and trips to the foul line.
And with 5:26 left, the Hurricanes seized control of the lead, 73-72, when redshirt sophomore Norchad Omeir finished an and-1 lob and hit the free throw. Miami hit 28 of 32 from the line; Texas hit 11 of 15.
The final few minutes were plagued by whistle after whistle, with Miami scoring its final 13 points via free throw. But Texas, which hadn’t displayed any nerves throughout a season rife with adversity, knotted the score again at 79-79 with 1:26 remaining on a tough turnaround jumper in the lane from Carr.
But Omeir drew a foul battling for a rebound and hit both free throws to give Miami a two-point lead it would never relinquish.
Carr led Texas with 17 points and six assists. Allen finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. Rice added 15 points while Cunningham chipped in with seven points, eight rebounds and a couple of assists.
Miller led all scorers with 27 points, going 13of-13 at the free throw line. The rest of Miami’s starting five joined him in double figures as the Hurricanes shot a blistering 59.2 percent from the floor.
Miami will face fourthseeded UConn next Saturday in the Final Four at Houston’s NRG Stadium. The other matchup pairs ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic and fifth-seeded San Diego State.
“They were truly a team,” Terry said of these Longhorns. “They embodied everything about a team on and off the court. They carried themselves with class and just had a laser-focus on trying to achieve a common goal.”