Miami comes back from 12 down to beat Clemson

Posted 8:11PM on Thursday 9th March 2006 ( 19 years ago )

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) For 30 minutes, Miami looked about as bad as flu-stricken Guillermo Diaz felt. Fortunately, both of them got going in time to help the Hurricanes win their first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament game. Denis Clemente hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 50.9 seconds left while Diaz scored 22 points to lead Miami past Clemson 66-63 in Thursday's first round, capping a rally from 13 down in the second half to earn a date with No. 3 Duke in Friday's quarterfinals. Robert Hite added 15 points and Clemente scored 10 for the eighth-seeded Hurricanes (16-14), who trailed most of the way before stunning the Tigers (18-12). ``I'm really proud of my ballclub because we very easily could've folded,'' Miami coach Frank Haith said. ``We showed tremendous resiliency in how we kept after it. It wasn't like a big run to win the game. We kept chipping away and kept chipping away.'' Miami was a No. 6 seed last year in its first ACC season, but lost 66-65 to last-place Virginia on the tournament's first day. The Hurricanes appeared headed for another early exit this year, trailing 48-36 with about 12 minutes to play. But Diaz made several big plays and shook off one potentially devastating one to help Miami inch its way back. He scored nine points in the last 4 minutes, including a 3 to cut the deficit to 60-59 with 2:05 left. He had a chance to put the Hurricanes ahead on the next possession, but dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds on a fast break with 1:39 left. Diaz scooped up the ball and clutched it while wincing at the missed opportunity, but he made up for it on the next possession by driving the baseline to find Clemente alone in the right corner for a 3 and a 62-60 lead. Diaz closed out his scoring day with two free throws for a 64-60 lead with 32.2 seconds left. ``I feel real bad and I've been on medication, but it doesn't matter,'' Diaz said. ``The only people who know I'm sick are me and the people around me. ... I've just got to get some rest and get ready.'' As for Clemente, it was just his second 3 since hitting two against Boston College on Jan. 21, a span in which he missed 14 straight over 10 games before hitting one in the regular-season finale against Florida State. ``That's Guillermo's guy,'' Haith said. ``He's got confidence in him. Denis has been a streaky shooter this year, but one thing about him is that he's got a lot of toughness. He believes he can make plays, which can be good and bad. In that particular play, I knew he was going to shoot it. That's just the way Denis plays, he was going to take the shot.'' Vernon Hamilton scored 17 points for the Tigers, who hit 10 3-pointers and earned a 48-38 rebounding advantage including 24 offensive boards that led to 21 second-chance points. But Clemson shot just 29 percent, including 9-for-35 after the break. And the Tigers committed six second-half turnovers that led to 10 points for Miami, providing several transition baskets to spark the Hurricanes. ``The story of the game was our inability to make shots,'' Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. ``I didn't get a feel that we were out of our rhythm offensively. We just couldn't get it to go in.'' Clemson still had a chance to tie it when Clemente and Anthony King each went 1-for-2 at the line in the final 21 seconds, but came up empty on two possessions. On the last, King blocked Shawan Robinson's 3-point attempt, but Robinson corralled the ball and found Hamilton on the left side. Hamilton pump-faked to let a defender fly by, then hoisted a 3 that clanged off the rim at the horn. The Tigers came into Greensboro on an unusually strong note, winning three-straight league games heading into the tournament for the first time in 42 years. Their 18 regular-season wins were the most for the program since 1997, and their seven league wins were most since '98. Now they'll likely have to settle for a trip to the NIT. ``It's pretty heartbreaking because this was a game that we had the entire game,'' Hamilton said, ``and it shouldn't have come down to taking that one shot.'' (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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