Canes beat Boston College at the buzzer 71-69

The Miami Hurricanes have had some cardiac moments this season, including a half-court heave to win a game. Add another one to the list.

Jordan Miller’s layup as time expired lifted #4 seed Miami to a 71-69 win over the pesky 13th-seeded Boston College Eagles in overtime. Here’s the winner, in case you missed it...

Sam Waardenburg pulled down a defensive rebound with 6 seconds remaining and pitched the ball to Charlie Moore, who adeptly hustled the ball up court before finding Miller for the layup that just beat the red light. It was a pass that would have made Tyler Van Dyke and Charleston Rambo proud.

Kam McGusty had a game-high 16 points, and Miami had 4 of 5 starters reach double figures. Waardenburg had a game-high 9 rebounds. Miami actually - surprisingly - matched Boston College with 28 total rebounds. It felt like BC got to more loose balls and kept getting seconds chance opportunities, but in the end, Miami got some late stops and key rebounds that helped them hang on.

Miami led 34-32 at the break and trailed for much of the second half before taking a 65-62 lead inside the game’s final 30 seconds after going back and forth for several minutes. Miami collapsed on defense and left Jaeden Zackery open for a game-tying three with 23 seconds remaining, and then nearly lost when a last second BC heave from its own free throw line hit the rim and bounced out after Isaiah Wong turned the ball over.

But Miami prevailed in overtime and did what matters in March: they survived and advanced. They also likely locked up an NCAA tournament spot, having avoided a bad loss and advanced where many other bubble teams have already fizzled out. They can only help themselves at this point by playing Duke, as a loss to the Blue Devils would do no harm to the resume.

Miami and Duke tip off tomorrow at 7:00 pm, with a spot to Saturday’s championship game on the line.

Go Canes!