Miami Nips Villanova, 67-66
Jan. 17, 2000
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) – Johnny Hemsley’s three-pointer at thebuzzer gave Miami an improbable 67-66 win over Villanova on Monday night.
Villanova’s Brooks Sales missed two free throws with 16 seconds remainingand then Hemsley’s trey, off of a broken play, caused mayhem on the court, astwo officials, Tim Higgins and Carl Hess, converged and decided that the basketwas good.
The decision sent the Hurricanes into their locker room jubilant while theVillanova coaches and players stood stunned. Many went to see the replay on thetelevision monitors, which seemed to lean the Wildcats’ way.
Higgins had made the call emphatically as soon as it was shot and Hessseemed to agree. Villanova coach Steve Lappas and assistant Steve Pinone arguedvehemently but the officials left quickly amid a hailstorm of debris from theVillanova student section.
Hemsley scored 21 points and John Salmons, a native of nearby PlymouthMeeting, Pa., had a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Hurricanes(10-7, 3-2), who won for the second time in three games.
The Wildcats (9-5, 1-2) had a balanced scoring attack, with nine playersscoring five or more points. Brian Lynch led the way with 11 points and Salesscored 10 for Villanova, which had its three-game winning streak broken.
Trailing by 10, Miami made an 8-2 run to pull to within four, 64-60, with2:28 left in the second half. The two teams exchanged free throws to make thegame 66-62 with 1:46 left but Mario Bland sank a six-footer to cut the deficitto two with 1:10 to go.
Neither team could get their offense going in the first half, especiallybehind the three-point arc. They combined to go 2-for-18 from beyond the arc,including Miami’s 0-for-8. The Wildcats went on an 8-1 run to end the half witha 32-28 advantage.
With the score tied at 41 in the second half, Villanova started to put ittogether offensively, scoring 21 of the next 33 to open up a 62-52 lead with4:50 left. During that stretch, Aaron Matthews had seven points, including thefirst three-pointer of his career and a reverse dunk on a fastbreak thatignited the crowd.
