The Dream Season: Part VI

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – This is the sixth installment of a seven-segment series creating the “dream” University of Miami men’s basketball season from Jim Larrañaga’s nine-year tenure, since 2011-12.

What does that mean? We went through every option for each game number—i.e. all nine season openers, all nine 23rd games of a season—and picked the best one of each group to form that “dream” season.

Some selections were made due to win quality, others for a memorable finish and others for historical achievements. Some include all of that, but each game is special in some way.

In Part VI, we make the top choice for games 26 through 30. The list includes the first 55-minute affair in program history, a pair of top-15 home triumphs, a top-10 road win on a buzzer-beater and an ACC title clincher.

Part I can be found HERE, while Part II is available HERE, Part III is HERE, Part IV is HERE and Part V is HERE.

Game 26… Feb. 19, 2020: Miami 102, Virginia Tech 95 (3OT) (Blacksburg, Va.)

The inaugural triple-overtime ACC affair in program history and the first by any pair of ACC teams since December 2003. The instant classic featured several heroic moments, most notably from freshman guard Isaiah Wong, who made critical plays at the end of every session.

Virginia Tech used a 10-minute, 26-9 run to take its largest lead of the game, 70-63, with 4:35 to play in regulation, but then Wong took over. He went on a personal 11-2 run featuring eight free throws followed by a go-ahead 3-pointer to give Miami a 74-72 edge with 1:39 left. The Hokies charged back in front and then pushed their lead to three with 13 ticks left, but redshirt junior guard Kameron McGusty sent the game to overtime on a three-point play with five seconds on the clock.

Miami trailed by four in the final minute of the first extra session, but Wong hit a jump-shot with 51 seconds to go to halve the deficit and then drilled another with six seconds to go, sending the game to double-overtime. After the Hokies took a two-point lead with 32 seconds remaining in that frame, Wong once again tied the score, this time with 16 ticks on the clock, to force a third extra session, in which Miami posted a 12-5 margin to come away with the thrilling victory.

The Hurricanes went 29-of-32 (90.6 percent) at the line and made their first 25 attempts, posted a 55-45 rebounding edge to tie their highest total ever in ACC play and scored triple digits for the first time in ACC action.  Wong totaled a game-high 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while making all 14 of his free throws, becoming the fifth Division I player in 10 seasons to reach all those marks. Junior guard Chris Lykes scored 23 and McGusty notched 21, giving Miami three 20-point scorers for the first time since January 2009. Redshirt senior Keith Stone tallied 12 points and a game-high 18 rebounds, the latter setting a program record in ACC competition, while redshirt junior center Rodney Miller, Jr., scored 10 points.

Game 27… Feb. 22, 2016: #12/11 Miami 64, #3 Virginia 61 (Coral Gables, Fla.)

The second-highest-ranked foe Miami has defeated since Jim Larrañaga got to The U and its first victory in a top-15 ACC showdown under Larrañaga.

Facing a Virginia team that finished the season ranked top-five after going 29-8 and reaching the Elite Eight, the Hurricanes led for 33:36 and trailed for just 4:08. Miami limited the Cavaliers to just one double-digit scorer in the form of next season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, Malcolm Brogdon, who scored 28 points. Every other player on Virginia’s roster combined to shoot just 13-of-40 (32.5 percent) overall and 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) from 3-point range.

The Cavaliers sliced a 10-point second-half deficit down to one in the closing minutes, but junior guard Davon Reed’s late free throws helped seal the decision. Reed paced Miami with 21 points after shooting 5-of-6 from 3-point range, while redshirt junior guard Sheldon McClellan registered 11 points in the win. The Hurricanes finished 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from long range in the top-three triumph.

Game 28… Feb. 27, 2016: #12/11 Miami 73, #11/NR Louisville 65 (Coral Gables, Fla.)

Miami’s second victory in a top-15 ACC clash in a six-day span came in front of one of the loudest crowds in Watsco Center history.

Facing a Louisville team with six future NBA players, including Donovan Mitchell, the Hurricanes earned their first win over the Cardinals since 1963. Trailing by four, 62-58, with under five minutes to play, Miami went on a 12-0 run to take a 70-62 edge with 33 ticks left. The game-clinching surge started with an old-fashioned three-point play by redshirt senior guard Sheldon McClellan, included four made free throws by senior center Tonye Jekiri and featured a dagger 3-pointer by junior guard Davon Reed.

Miami won the game with its dazzling shooting, finishing 23-of-43 (53.5 percent) from the field, 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) beyond the arc and 19-of-23 (82.6 percent) at the line. Louisville, meanwhile, had respective ledgers of 26-of-56 (46.4 percent), 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) and 75.0 percent (6-of-8).

Reed, who finished 3-of-4 from deep, logged 17 points, as did redshirt senior guard Angel Rodriguez, who added a game-high seven assists. McClellan scored 13 points and senior forward Ivan Cruz Uceda added nine on 3-of-3 long-range shooting. The Hurricanes held Mitchell, a 2020 NBA All-Star, to just four points.

Game 29… Feb. 27, 2018: Miami 91, #9 North Carolina 88 (Chapel Hill, N.C.)

Miami’s most memorable shot of the Jim Larrañaga era silenced a crowd of 20,251 at the Dean E. Smith Center. The win improved the Hurricanes to, at that point, 6-5 overall and 3-2 on the road against North Carolina under Larrañaga.

Miami took a 16-point advantage with 16:16 to go and still led by 11 with under six minutes left, but the Tar Heels clawed their way back. They cut the deficit to one on four occasions in the final two minutes, but Miami answered each time to maintain the lead. That remained the case until Joel Berry II hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds on the clock.

The Hurricanes, though, had one final counter. Senior guard Ja’Quan Newton took the inbounds pass, raced up the right side of the court and heaved a 35-foot runner that went through the net as the final horn sounded. A joyous frenzy on the Miami bench leaked onto the court, as the entire team rushed to Newton for a celebratory dog-pile after defeating the reigning national champions on their senior night.

Even with future NBA draftee Bruce Brown Jr., sidelined due to injury, six Hurricanes scored double-digit points, with freshman guard Chris Lykes’ 18 leading the way. Newton logged 15, sophomore forward Dewan Hernandez had 14, freshman guard Lonnie Walker IV scored 13, junior center Ebuka Izundu added 12 and sophomore guard DJ Vasiljevic chipped in 10. That was enough to overcome 31 points from Berry, 20 from future lottery pick Cameron Johnson and a double-double from All-American Luke Maye (14 points, 10 rebounds).

Game 30… March 9, 2013: #6/7 Miami 62, Clemson 49 (Coral Gables, Fla.)

This game clinched the first outright league championship for the Hurricanes, regardless of conference. It did not boast the same late dramatics as Miami’s first 2012-13 matchup with Clemson, but it featured a boisterous postgame net-cutting celebration befitting the first-time ACC champions.

Although it was tied at halftime, the Hurricanes were never seriously threatened, scoring the first four points after the break and maintaining a lead the rest of the way. Miami upped its lead to 15 late in the affair, allowing Jim Larrañaga to take out each of his five seniors in the closing minutes of their final home outing.

The Hurricanes posted a commanding 35-21 edge on the glass, as just one Tiger had four-plus boards, and went 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from deep while allowing a 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) ledger. Redshirt senior forward Kenny Kadji led all players in points (23) and rebounds (12), while sophomore guard Shane Larkin tallied 11 points and redshirt senior guard Trey McKinney Jones scored 10.