Field Level Media
Feb 27, 2018
Ja'Quan Newton hit a 35-foot 3-point shot at the buzzer as Miami defeated No. 9 North Carolina 91-88 on Tuesday night at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Newton scored seven points in the last 25 seconds, though the Hurricanes never trailed in the second half.
Joel Berry II hit a 3-pointer for North Carolina to tie the game with 4.1 seconds left before Newton hurried across midcourt and launched the winning shot.
It was the final home game for North Carolina seniors Berry and Theo Pinson.
Down 76-65 with about 5 1/2 minutes to play, the Tar Heels closed within 78-74 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Kenny Williams and Berry.
Another Berry 3-pointer made it 80-78. Luke Maye made one free throw at the 1:50 mark before Miami's Anthony Lawrence II extended the lead with two foul shots 15 seconds later.
Berry answered on a drive, but Newton scored on a runner.
North Carolina's Cameron Johnson missed the last foul shot after hitting two, leaving Miami ahead 84-83 with 38.1 seconds to play.
Newton sank two foul shots with 24.8 seconds to go. With 11.4 seconds left, Berry hit two free throws.
Newton hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 9.2 ticks remaining before Berry's 3-pointer with 4.1 to play tied it.
Chris Lykes led Miami with 18 points, and Newton had 15. Dewan Huell (14 points), Lonnie Walker IV (13), Ebuka Izundu (12) and DJ Vasiljevic (10) also scored in double figures for Miami (21-8, 10-7 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Hurricanes have their second three-game winning streak since beginning the ACC schedule.
Berry racked up 31 points, and Johnson had 20. Maye finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Pinson added 12 points and 11 assists for North Carolina (22-8, 11-6).
The Tar Heels wrap up their regular-season schedule Saturday night at No. 5 Duke. North Carolina can claim the ACC tournament's No. 2 seed by beating the Blue Devils.
The Hurricanes held a 44-36 halftime lead, shooting 56 percent from the field.
Miami padded the lead to 50-36 just 65 seconds into the second half as Berry picked up his third foul.
The Hurricanes' 16-point edge was cut in half with about 15 minutes to play.
In the first half, Miami used an 18-3 run to grab a 28-21 lead
Maye joined four seniors, including walk-ons Kane Ma and Aaron Rohlman, in the North Carolina starting lineup,
This was the only scheduled meetings between the teams.
--Field Level Media