Miami snapped a 10-game losing streak after rallying from a 13-point deficit to beat Notre Dame 63-57 Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference matchup in Coral Gables, Fla.
The Hurricanes (5-17, 1-10 ACC) won their first conference game since beating Virginia Tech on Feb. 3, 2024. They had lost 20 consecutive conference games.
It’s the first win for associate head coach Bill Courtney, who took over when Jim Larranaga resigned as Miami’s head coach on Dec. 26.
The Fighting Irish (10-11, 4-6) had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Down by four with 11 seconds remaining, Notre Dame’s Matt Allocco missed all three throws after he was inexplicably fouled during a desperation 3-point attempt.
The Hurricanes clinched the victory when Matthew Cleveland made two free throws with 10 seconds remaining.
Notre Dame, which led by five with 8:39 remaining, was outscored 15-4 over the final 8:21.
Cleveland led all scorers with 21 points on 9 of 15 shooting and added seven rebounds. Lynn Kidd was 7 of 9 from the field for 15 points, and Brandon Johnson had 13 points and eight rebounds. Markus Burton led Notre Dame with 17 points.
After falling behind by 13 on Burton’s bucket to start the scoring in the second half, Miami mounted its comeback.
Divine Ugochukwu’s steal and fast-break dunk pulled Miami to within six with just under 13 minutes remaining. Less than two minutes later, Cleveland drove the lane for a layup to cut the lead to four.
Jalil Bethea cut the deficit to 48-46 with two free throws on Miami’s next possession. Later, Brandon Johnson’s two free throws re-tied the game, and Cleveland’s layup and two free throws by Ugochukwu gave the Hurricanes a 57-53 lead with 5:56 remaining.
Miami scored 16 points off 12 Notre Dame turnovers.
Notre Dame led by 11 at the half behind Braeden Shrewsberry’s 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting, including 3 of 6 on 3-point attempts. He was held to only three points in the second half.
–Field Level Media
