The Miami Hurricanes gave themselves more of a cushion for their NCAA Tournament hopes on Tuesday night, traveling to Pittsburgh and beating the Pitt Panthers 85-64. With the win, the Hurricanes improve to 20-8 (12-5 in the ACC). The win moves Miami into a tie with North Carolina for third place, and 1.5 games behind first-place Duke with three games left.
Jim Larrañaga in the recap:
“The regular season is a marathon. We told the team there’s four miles left. Today is one of the four and now we have three miles left. In order to win a marathon you’ve got to play your best or run your best at the end of the race and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Game Recap:
Kameron McGusty and Charlie Moore each led the Hurricanes in scoring with 19 points. Jordan Miller and Sam Waardenburg each added 12 points for the Hurricanes who have won four of five and bounced back from a loss to Virginia after leading by 10. John Hugley for Pittsburgh led all scorers with 20 points.
The Hurricanes jumped out of the gate quickly to start the game, going on a 12-2 run. Pittsburgh would come back to make it 14-12, but that was as close as the game would get. Led by their 59-percent shooting, the Hurricanes would widen the gap to make it 47-27 at the half. They would sustain their lead in the second half, being up by as much as 30.
Takeaways:
- With Miami’s win on Tuesday night, they have eclipsed 20 wins, the first time a Hurricanes squad has done that since the 2017-18 season.
- Also with the win, the Hurricanes improved to 8-2 on the road, the best record in the ACC.
- Miami HC Jim Larrañaga has won 220 games at Miami, tied for Bruce Hale’s time over a 13-year span (1954-67).
Up Next:
Miami will come back home to Coral Gables to host an improving Virginia Tech Hokies squad. Tip-off is 3 PM on Bally Sports.
(Featured image via CanesHoops/Twitter)