Canes stun Hokies, advance to first ACC tourney Semifinals

For the second time in as many days, the 12th-seeded Miami Hurricanes dispatched a top-5-seeded ACC foe, this time with a 70-65 victory over the fourth-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies. In doing so the Miami Hurricanes did what no other Hurricane team has done before - won 2 games in the ACC tournament. After finishing in the basement of the ACC, the baby Canes gave Frank Haith his second 20-win season, certainly a bright spot amongst a once-optimistic season turned sour.

The Hokies maintained a slim lead for most of the second half, but freshman G Durand Scott exploded down the stretch, scoring baskets to keep the Canes even and knocking down clutch free throws to give the Canes the lead for good and to ice the game. Miami did an outstanding job locking down Tech point guard Malcolm Delaney, the leading scorer in the ACC, holding him to 7 points on a dismal 3 of 15 points from the field. Delaney had a chance to give the Hokies the lead in the final minute, but he misfired on a pair of shots inside of 12 feet.

The Canes will take on Duke, who stopped Virginia 57-46 in the first quarterfinal, tomorrow at 1:30 pm in the first ACC Semifinal matchup. The Blue Devils defeated the Canes 81-74 at the BankUnited Center on February 17 in the schools' only meeting this year.