The first half of Wednesday night’s game was as lousy as the weather outside the Watsco Center, as the University of Miami and Clemson teams struggled mightily to get going. But the Hurricanes made up for it with a thrilling ending, pulling out a 65-64 victory on a gutsy fadeaway bank shot by Zach Johnson just before the final buzzer.
“When it hit the backboard, I was like `Oh, no,’ said UM coach Jim Larranaga. “But it spun around the rim a couple of times, and I thought, `That’s got a chance’ and it went in.”
Miami had squandered a 10-point second-half lead, trailed by one with under a minute to go, and the Tigers appeared to have the game in hand when UM point guard Chris Lykes missed a jumper and Clemson’s Marcquise Reed grabbed the rebound with 50 seconds remaining.