Miami may have punched its NCAA tournament ticket with 54-48 road win over No. 18 Virginia

Miami took a massive step towards punching its ticket to the 2017 NCAA tournament by pulling off a 54-48 overtime road win over No. 18 Virginia Monday night. Making the victory even sweeter was the fact that the Hurricanes did the deed without the services of suspended starting point guard Ja’Quan Newton, and after a string of brutal breaks to end regulation.

A pair of foul calls on Miami in the final 1:21 that had appeared to be clean blocks helped Virginia pull even with the Hurricanes at 43. Still, it appeared for a moment as if The U was going to walk out of John Paul Jones Arena with a regulation victory when Davon Reed momentarily appeared to play buzzer-beating hero.

A quick review determined that Reed’s shot had been released just after the final horn, which meant the world was treated to five more minutes of action from Charlottesville.

The teams went back and forth in the extra period before Miami freshman Bruce Brown hit a three-pointer with 26 seconds left. That shot gave the Hurricanes a lead they would not relinquish as they held on for a huge 54-48 victory. The 102 points scored by the two teams were the fewest ever for an overtime ACC game in the shot-clock era.

The lack of entertainment the game provided to the American public meant little to Miami, which was just thrilled to snag a ninth ACC victory and solidify its postseason resume. The ‘Canes will now enter the penultimate weekend of the regular season with a 19-8 overall record and a 9-6 mark in league play.

The mood was assuredly much different in the Virginia locker room. The Cavaliers have now lost four straight for the first time in the Tony Bennett era, and have now fallen to 18-9 overall after being 16-3 just 27 days ago. At 8-7 in league play, UVA currently finds itself in a tie with Syracuse for seventh place in the ACC standings.