– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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GREENSBORO, N.C. — It took until the very last second of the very last game of the regular season until the Miami Hurricanes could call themselves ACC regular season champions for the second time in school history. Will the very last second of the very last game of the ACC Tournament be the moment immediately before the ‘Canes win a conference tournament for the second time in school history as well?
Today was a good start, though a comfortable victory turned hairy pretty quickly.
Our coverage of championship week on A Lot of Sports Talk takes its turn in Greensboro, North Carolina, home of the ACC Tournament for 2023 after a stop in New York City last season. While the blue bloods of Duke and North Carolina dominate the headlines on Tobacco Road, most of the sunshine for 2023 has descended on the team from the Sunshine State, as Miami completed a surprise 15-5 conference season with a 78-76 home victory over Pittsburgh in a winner-take-all game for the ACC Tournament’s No. 1 seed.
Their winning ways continued today, as Miami defeated No. 9 seed Wake Forest 74-72 to advance to the semifinals The Hurricanes held an eight-point lead with under three minutes remaining before the Demon Deacons mounted a furious comeback that fell just short. Jordan Miller scored a team-high 18 points for the Hurricanes while Norchad Omier put up a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Miami’s win will set up a date with No. 4 Duke in the semifinals, who routed No. 5 Pittsburgh — and Panthers coach and former Duke standout Jeff Capel — 96-69 in the second quarterfinal of the afternoon. Kyle Filipowski had 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting while Tyrese Proctor had 11 points and 10 assists.
In the evening session, North Carolina will look to keep their NCAA Tournament at-large hopes alive when it takes on No. 2 seed and regular season co-champion Virginia in the first game of the evening session. In the nightcap, No. 3 seed Clemson, squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, looks to come through with a big victory against No. 6 NC State, whose spot in the Big Dance looks safe regardless of tonight’s result.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday’s quarterfinals, with the photos taken by ALOST contributing photographer Justin Cohen. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are three pictures in total.
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