Hurricanes Outlast Wake Forest in 74-73 Thriller

Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP) – Reggie Johnson hit two free throws with 4 seconds left and Miami survived a rimmed-out 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Wake Forest 74-73 on Wednesday to snap a 13-game Atlantic Coast Conference road losing streak.

Playing in his hometown, Johnson scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds, calmly sinking both foul shots for the 20th lead change of the night.

Wake Forest was out of time outs, but quickly got the ball to J.T. Terrell, whose deep 3-pointer did a 360-degree roll around the rim before falling out as the horn sounded.

Durand Scott added 17 points before fouling out for the Hurricanes (15-9, 4-6), who won their third straight game. It was Miami’s first win in six tries at Joel Coliseum.

C.J. Harris scored a career-high 24 points, including two free throws with 11.3 seconds left to give Wake Forest (8-16, 1-8) its last lead.

It marked the eighth straight tight game for the Hurricanes, who are starting to find ways to win them as they try to move up the ACC ladder. Winning on the road had been the most difficult hurdle.

Wake Forest shot 54 percent and got a big game from Harris. He hit 17 of 18 free throws, however his last two free throws weren’t enough because Wake Forest had no answer for Johnson inside.

Just like he did in the ACC tournament last March – hitting all eight shots in a Miami romp – the Demon Deacons struggled to contain him.

Carson Desrosiers and Ty Walker each had three fouls by the 17:34 mark of the second half while guarding Johnson. Wake Forest started double-teaming him, but Johnson was still managing to squirt through and score in the post.

In a game that also included 14 ties, Miami went ahead 66-61 on Garrius Adams’ bucket with 5:19 left as Harris sat on the bench with four fouls. But the Demon Deacons rallied to tie it at 70 on Terrell’s straightaway 3-pointer with 2:22 left.

Terrell hit one free throw with 1:12 left to put Wake Forest ahead before Scott’s two free throws with 39 seconds left put Miami on top 72-71.

Terrell and Travis McKie had 10 points apiece, while Adrian Thomas and Malcolm Grant scored 10 each for Miami, which held a 29-21 rebounding edge.

The short-handed Demon Deacons played without starter Ari Stewart (illness) a day after reserve Melvin Tabb was kicked off the team for violating team rules. But Harris helped make up for it.

He had 16 points in the first half, including a four-point play and 9-of-10 free-throw shooting, as Wake Forest rallied from an early 14-5 deficit to tie it at 37 at the half.

Tonight’s Starters
Starting for Miami tonight was Durand Scott, Malcolm Grant, Garrius Adams, Julian Gamble and Reggie Johnson. The team is now 6-3 with this lineup. Scott, Grant and Johnson have started every game this season.

Versus the Demon Deacons… The Hurricanes have now won two straight over Wake Forest and three of their last four meetings. Tonight marked Miami’s first win at Joel Coliseum.

Down to the Final Possession
This was the eighth-straight game for the Hurricanes that was decided by four points or less. Miami is 4-4 during the stretch, with a three-game winning streak after tonight. The last eight games have been decided by a total of 17 points.

Welcome Home Big Reg
Reggie Johnson went 8-of-10 from the field and 9-of-12 from the line to finish with a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes of action versus his hometown Demon Deacons. The Winston-Salem Prep graduate set his previous high of 22 points versus Wake Forest after converting all eight field goals and all six free throws in the ACC Tournament’s opening-round rout of Wake on March 11, 2010, and then matched it at Duke on Jan. 2.

Sweet Charity
After hitting a subpar 5-of-11 (.455) from the charity stripe in the opening half of play, the Hurricanes pulled it together to knock down a perfect 16-of-16 free throws in the second half en route to the one-point victory. Miami went 4-of-4 from the line over the final 39 seconds, as Durand Scott finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the line and Reggie Johnson went a career-high 9-of-12 — following up a 1-for-4 first-half effort from the line with 8-of-8 shooting in the final stanza.

He’s Baaack
After battling the flu last week and putting together a rough pair outings in the home wins over Georgia Tech and Virginia, Durand Scott was back to form at Wake Forest — hitting 4-of-6 from the field, a perfect 3-of-3 from long range and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line en route to 17 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 38 minutes before fouling out for the second-straight game.

This & That
Malcolm Grant scored 10 points for his seventh-straight double-figure scoring game and his 16th over the last 17 games. With one trey versus Wake Forest, he has connected from long range in 21 of Miami’s 24 games this season and in 11 straight for the third-longest active streak in the ACC.

Adrian Thomas knocked down a pair of three en route to 10 points — his second-straight double-figure scoring effort, and has now hit a three-pointer in 18 of his last 19 and 53 of his last 59 games. 

Turn it Around
Although Miami turned the ball over one more time than Wake Forest, the Hurricanes turned those 13 Demon Deacon turnovers into 16 points, while Wake managed just five points on Miami’s 14 turnovers.