Miami dominates the second half led by Malik Reneau to eliminate the Cardinals and set up a semifinal date with Virginia
The Miami Hurricanes got their revenge on Thursday afternoon.
Just five days after their senior-day loss at home to Louisville, the Hurricanes turned the tables in the ACC Tournament on Thursday, defeating Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals 78–73 in the quarterfinals to advance to the ACC semifinals.
With the win for Miami, the Canes now improve to 25-7 on the season and are set to face the Virginia Cavaliers in the semifinals on Friday night.
The Hurricanes were led by Malik Reneau, who led all scorers with 24 points, and delivered multiple key plays in the final stretch of the game to help Miami seal the win. Reneau’s 24 points marks now the 17th game this season that he has scored 20 points or more.
Tre Donaldson also added 14 points (6-15 FG) and six assists, while Tru Washington provided a huge spark off the bench for Miami, finishing with 17 points.
“It means a lot,” Washington said. “Kids dream of having moments like this on this stage. It’s March, win or go home. In the moments, I just wanted to live up to it, and today it helped.”
Louisville entered halftime with a 38-37 lead, but Miami quickly flipped the momentum after the break. The Hurricanes opened the second half on a 12-3 run after finding their rhythm on offense and would outscore Louisville 41-35 in the second half.
Miami’s pressure on defense created several key stops and turnovers while the offense continued to attack the paint (44 points in the paint) and found their way of drawing fouls and getting open looks, much like Louisville did days prior.
Late in the game, the Hurricanes came up with several clutch plays, including a clutch block and breakaway dunk from Shelton Henderson that would be the dagger.
“We knew in the second half that we had to come out swinging, and that’s what we did,” Henderson said.
Following the game, Tre Donaldson highlighted the mindset and the message him and his teammates have carried leading into the tournament. “March is going to throw so much at you. Injuries, bad calls, in-and-outs,” Donaldson said. “Just continue to stay the course no matter what it’s going to take because what we do as a team, it travels.”
Jai Lucas and his Canes now turn their attention towards Virginia; a matchup Miami has been looking to get back following a close loss in Charlottesville just a few weeks ago.
“Everything’s in our favor,” Malik Reneau said postgame. “I think we gave that game up at Virginia. I’m just happy that we get to get our get-back at the teams we lost to and continue to compete at a high level.”
With a win tomorrow night, Miami in year one under head coach Jai Lucas would advance to their first ACC Championship game since 2013. The Canes and Cavaliers are set to tip-off tomorrow night at 7:00 PM on ESPN or ESPN2.
(Photo: Christian Proscia, NewEraPrep)
