Miami Ends BC's ACC Tourney Run With Heartbreaking OT Buzzer Beater

There’s a certain mystery that illuminates Jordan Miller. The 6-foot-7 George Mason transfer plays the four and, at times, center, for a five-out motion Miami men’s basketball team. He’s often two inches shorter and 30-some pounds lighter than the player he’s matched up against.

But Hurricanes head coach Jim Larrañaga—the all-time winningest coach in program history—says Miller is the best offensive rebounder he’s ever coached. And he has a “ridiculous” talent for tip-ins.

“I don’t know how he does it,” Larrañaga said, “but I love that he does it.”

Miller suspended disbelief Thursday evening against Boston College when he sprinted down the court, caught a Charlie Moore pass and made the game-winning layup, all in the span of five seconds, to beat the overtime buzzer and send Miami to the ACC Tournament semifinals.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” first-year BC head coach Earl Grant said. “But I really didn’t think he had enough time to lay it in.”

“Surreal,” BC senior center James Karnik said after a long pause. “I just couldn’t believe it, honestly. I saw him leaking out, and I saw him opening, but, just in my mind, I was like, ‘No, there’s definitely not enough time. He’s gonna miss it or something’s gonna go our way.’”

Some things are just inexplicable, especially at this time of the year.

“It’s March,” Miller said.

BC (13-20, 6-14 ACC), the second-ever 13th-seed to make it to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, didn’t look like a team playing its third game in as many days. The Eagles came out fresh, starting the game on a 12-5 run that featured eight quick points from center Quinten Post, including back-to-back 3-pointers from the right wing.

Miami (23-9, 14-6), which ranks 18th nationally in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency, reset and put the wheels in motion. The Hurricanes did more than just that, actually. They rattled off 10 consecutive field goals, while routinely trapping BC on defense. In the process, they outscored the Eagles, 20-9, staking themselves to a 25-21 lead.

Grant turned to a zone defense to stop the bleeding and slow the tempo. It worked. Miami scored a mere nine points in the final nine minutes and 49 seconds of the first half. BC was filling its gaps defensively, and a Makai Ashton-Langford 3-pointer and Brevin Galloway floater got them back in the swing of things.

Still, the ’Canes closed the period shooting 57.7% from the floor and carried a 34-32 advantage into the break. They never really ratcheted up the pace again like they did during their first-half surge, though.

“We had it where we wanted it, in terms of our tempo, our plan,” Grant said. “I thought we did a good job of making them play our game.”

Just when Miami established a five-point cushion in the second half—its biggest lead of the game—BC orchestrated a 6-0 spurt by hitting the floor for loose balls and turning defense into offense. The surge included a fierce two-handed slam from Karnik, who finished through Miami’s Sam Waardenburg, and a Post spin and score.

The Eagles stretched that run to 13-2, alternating back to man-to-man defense with increased ball pressure. Karnik continued to make his presence known down low. And Jaeden Zackery drilled a 3-pointer to put BC up, 47-41.

In due time, however, Miami erased its six-point deficit, largely thanks to a Kameron McGusty corner triple and back-to-back steals that led to a pair of Hurricanes baskets: the first from Waardenburg, the second from Isaiah Wong. Both came on the fastbreak.

But an Ashton-Langford reverse layup ended the Eagles’ nearly five-minute scoring drought and a 9-0 Miami run and, shortly thereafter, a Galloway old-fashioned 3-point play got the Eagles within one point of the ’Canes. Zackery ended up hitting the equalizer, a triple with 22 ticks remaining.

That set up Wong for a potential game-winning shot. Larrañaga put the ball in his third-year guard’s hands for the final possession. Except, the spread offense play was blown up by BC’s backcourt. Galloway forced a steal and hoisted up a prayer from beyond half court that hit the rim as time expired.

To overtime the game went. It was BC’s second straight day playing an extra five-minute period. Galloway tied the game not once but twice with a pair of nifty layups. Then, after three consecutive BC misses on one possession, the College of Charleston grad transfer blocked Miller on the other end.

The defensive play almost led to a fastbreak score for the Eagles with a smidge more than a minute remaining, but, with Ashton-Langford streaking to the basket, Grant called a timeout. After the break, Ashton-Langford missed a jumper, but BC got the ball back with 33 seconds left following a Wong travel.

Again, Ashton-Langford had a chance to win the game. He drained the shot clock and launched a contested, turnaround jumper. It fell short of the rim, and Waardenburg secured the rebound with about six ticks to go. Then he made the outlet pass to Moore, who pulled it away from a lunging Zackery with four seconds on the clock.

“Like an idiot, I was about ready to call a timeout. I saw Charlie get the ball, ‘Timeout! No, better not,’” Larrañaga recounted.

Larrañaga let his team, consisting of five fifth or sixth-year players, run the show. Moore made the pass, Miller made the shot. And Miami celebrated.

“To be honest with you, probably wasn't God's will,” Grant said postgame. “It was time for [Miami] to advance. I hate it for us, but … legendary coach—been doing it for a long time—having a great year. We did what we had to do to move our program forward but probably wasn’t part of God's plan.

Grant continued: “A lot of people probably didn't expect us to be sitting here today. That was part of His plan, too.”