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Top-seeded Miami survived a scare from eighth-seeded Boston College in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday. The Hurricanes won, 69-58, but the Eagles gave them everything they could handle with Miami only pulling away in the last two minutes of the game.
Miami looked shaky for much of the game, failing to find any sort of rhythm until their 14-3 run that ended the game. The game was back and forth for most of the second half as Boston College's Patrick Heckmann hit a three-pointer with 3:26 left to tie the game. But the Eagles failed to score again until 36 seconds were remaining and by that time it was too late and Miami had pulled away.
The Hurricanes started the game just like they ended it, on a big run. Miami jumped out to a 15-4 lead early that they stretched to 23-11, but just like they did on Thursday, Boston College made a big comeback, going on a 12-0 run to tie the game at 23 before taking the lead at half, 27-25.
This time it was a team effort by the Eagles, not just the work of Olivier Hanlan. In fact Hanlan, who went 8-for-10 from beyond the arc against Georgia Tech, didn't attempt a three-point shot until the second half. He ended the game with 14 points, going 2-for-3 from deep.
Shane Larkin led the way for the Hurricanes with 20 points, 15 of them coming in the second half, including some clutch three-pointers. Kenny Kadji added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Miami.
The Hurricanes struggled down the stretch this year, losing three of their last five regular season games and don't appear as if they have righted the ship quite yet. They'll get another chance to return to the form they displayed in January and February tomorrow when they face the winner of Virginia and N.C. State in the semifinals. But Miami has not been a team that blows its opponents out, winning several tight games against seemingly lesser opponents during the regular season as well.
More in College Basketball:
• The life and death of Earl Badu
• Full coverage of the ACC tournament
• Full coverage of the Big East tournament
• Full coverage of the Big Ten tournament