Nijel Pack comes alive with five late threes, UM beats Virginia Tech 92-83 in thriller
Anybody who watched the two games between the Miami Hurricanes and Virginia Tech Hokies last season could have guessed that Tuesday’s matchup might be another thriller. That it was.
The 23rd ranked Canes led by just one at halftime, there were 17 lead changes, and the score was tied eight times before Miami clinched it 92-83 to extend the Hurricanes’ home record to 12-0.
Last year, it was point guard Charlie Moore with the half-court buzzer beater to beat the Hokies in Blacksburg. Tuesday it was Moore’s replacement, Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack, with the late-game Hurricane heroics.
Pack had been silent all night, taken just one shot and was scoreless through 32 minutes. When he finally made his first shot, a three-pointer with 7:35 remaining to tie the game 68-68, the Watsco Center crowd erupted. When he followed that up with a second three to give UM a 71-69 lead, the decibel level went up even higher.
And when he hit a third three in a row to put the Hurricanes ahead 74-69, the roar was deafening. When the fourth went down, he slapped high fives with fans sitting court side. Pack wound up hitting five threes and making a layup for 17 points over a five-minute span to open up an 84-76 UM lead.
“Obviously, the five-minute stretch was great,” said Pack, grinning from ear to ear. “My teammates found me for a wide-open look and it got me going from there. (Miller) found me another one in transition and after two Coach is like, `Oh, yeah, give him the ball again,’ and I got a third and then I got a layup and then got another one and I was like, `Ah, this is rolling now.’ It was a whole bunch of fun, with that ending. I saw how close it was and we needed a boost.”
Pack said once he saw his first three fall, it changed his mindset and gave him confidence.
Asked to describe the five-minute stretch in one word, Pack replied: “Insane. I felt like if I had shot from half court, I’d have made it.”
Hokies coach Mike Young shook his head at the post-game press conference, saying he is “tired of watching Miami play because I admire them and they’re really good.” He praised the Hurricanes’ poise, depth, and coaching.
“They were quite obviously better down the stretch than we were,” Young said. “I tip my cap to Coach (Jim) Larranaga and his team. I have the upmost admiration for how they play and their kids play the right way.”
Norchad Omier led UM with 21 points and eight rebounds, including some clutch baskets in the closing minutes. Isaiah Wong had 18 and Jordan Miller 14.
UM students have finally started showing up in big numbers this season and bringing the kind of energy and noise the Hurricanes used to hear mostly on the road.
The suspenseful game was reminiscent of last season, when UM won at Blacksburg on Moore’s wild heave and a month later the Hokies won in Coral Gables on a go-ahead three in the final seconds.
Tuesday was billed as “International Night” at the arena and Omier, Miami’s energetic Nicaraguan power forward, got the crowd riled up in the opening minutes with a thunderous dunk followed by a putback to give the Canes an early lead.
But the Hokies quieted the home crowd by making their first six shots to take a 16-8 lead at the five-minute mark.
That’s when Bensley Joseph came in off the bench to replace Pack, and he made an immediate impact. Over the next four minutes the sophomore guard had a layup, a block, an assist, and back-to-back steals that led to baskets and sparked a 14-2 Hurricanes run.
Both teams shot lights out for much of the night. Midway through the first half, with the score knotted at 32-32, Virginia Tech was shooting 76.5 percent and Miami 66.7 percent.
“That was a great college basketball game, some outstanding offense at both ends of the court,” Larranaga said. “The score at half was 45-44 and we ended up with 92. That’s some scoring. They can also really score, shoot the three. They’re a terrific team...we’ve very fortunate to come away with the win.”
There were 11 lead changes before halftime and Miami held a 45-44 edge at the break. Guards Wong and Miller combined for 26 first half points on 10-of-17 shooting and Joseph chipped in seven.
Omier picked up his second foul with five minutes to go in the first half and went to the bench with eight points and two rebounds. He got his third in the early minutes of the second half, but stayed in the game and scored seven quick points to keep Miami alive.
Larranaga said Omier’s ability to score and stay in the game carrying three fouls was vital.
“That was pretty incredible,” he said. “He has to be more disciplined about when to exert his athleticism in traffic...he’s so valuable to us, we can’t have him on the bench sitting next to me.”
UM had four players in double figures, which has been a constant this season.
“We’re a high-octane scoring team,” Miller said. “I don’t think any night we’ll have a problem getting enough points to win a game. It will be can we get enough stops?”
The Hurricanes were desperate to get back to their home court after unraveling in the final minutes on the road against Pitt, squandering an eight-point lead in the last two minutes.
Tuesday against the Hokies, they found themselves with an eight-point lead with two minutes to go, but this time, they made smart plays, hit critical free throws and sealed the win to improve their record to 17-5 and 8-4 in the ACC. The Hokies, coming off back-to-back wins over Duke and Syracuse, dropped to 13-9, 3-8 in the ACC.
“The difference tonight was we were at home, the crowd was great, they really helped and our guys did not lose their poise” Larranaga said.
Hunter Catoor and Sean Pedulla led Tech with 20 points apiece and Grant Basile had 17.
Miami started the season 13-1 and were ranked as high as No. 12 the first week of January but had slipped a bit this month, going 3-4, and dropping to No. 23 in the AP poll this week.
All four losses were on the road, and the past three came down to the final possession. UM lost by two in overtime to NC State, by two at Duke, and by three at Pitt on Saturday.
The Canes had three turnovers in the final two minutes and Pitt scored the final 11 points of the game. Larranaga said his message to his players has been that they will find themselves in many close games and must be at their best in those moments.
On Tuesday, they were.
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 9:36 PM.