Canes Can't Climb Over Mountaineers
March 6, 2004
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Kevin Pittsnogle and D’or Fischer each scored 19points and West Virginia knocked Miami out of the Big East Tournament with a58-53 win on Saturday night.
The Hurricanes (14-16, 4-12 Big East) trailed for most of the game untilRobert Hite’s dunk with 5:54 left capped a 12-3 run and gave Miami a 51-48lead.
After Johannes Herber’s 3-pointer tied it again, a running jumper shot byDarius Rice put Miami ahead 53-51 with 2:54 remaining, but the Hurricanes wouldfail to score for the rest of the game.
West Virginia (15-12, 7-9) hit two quick layups and a free throw to takeback the lead before Rice missed a deep 3-pointer that would have tied the gamewith 14 seconds remaining. Patrick Beilein secured the win with a pair of freethrows.
West Virginia easily outshot the cold-handed Hurricanes, hitting 52.4percent from the field while Miami shot 36.8 percent. Rice scored 16 points butwas the only Miami player in double figures.
Tyrone Salled added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Mountaineers.
