It didn't take long for there to be some madness early in the 2011 ACC Tournament. It looked like No. 8 VIrginia was well on its way to a relatively easy win over No. 9 seed Miami, but thanks to a shocking display of ineptitude, the Hurricanes rallied from a 10-point deficit with 42 seconds left and eventually won 69-62 in overtime.
The Hurricanes move to 19-14 and will play No. 1 seed North Carolina on Friday at noon. Virginia falls to 16-15 and now must hope for an NIT or CBI bid.
The rally began with a three-pointer from Durand Scott, followed by another three from Malcolm Grant after two missed free throws. Sammy Zeglinski then turned the ball over on the baseline, and Miami took advantage by getting Julian Gamble a dunk from an out of bounds play. Jontel Evans then shockingly threw a bad pass right underneath his own basket that was stolen by Scott, who hit a layup as he was fouled by Mustapha Farrakhan. He missed the free throw, but Will Sherill fumbled the rebound out of bounds, giving Miami one last chance. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, Grant turned it over and the game went into overtime.
The Hurricanes took the lead for good in overtime on a Grant free throw, then scored the next seven points to pull away. Garrius Adams nailed a three-pointer to put Miami up four, which was followed by a Reggie Johnson layup and jump hook. The Hurricanes were able to close the game out with free throws, which Virginia could not do.
Prior to the comeback, Miami's offense was totally out of sync in the second half, hitting just four of its first 24 shots from the field in the second half. The Hurricanes had taken a 31-25 lead at halftime, based on the strength of an 11-2 run to close the first half. The second half, however, was clearly a different story until the rally.
Grant led all scorers with 16 points, though he only shot 4-16 from the field. Farrakhan had 14 points to lead Virginia, while Zeglinski added 13.
The next game will pit No. 5 seed Boston College against dreadful No. 12 seed Wake Forest.