Miller, Wong rally Miami past Texas 88-81 for first Final Four

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Miller andIsaiah Wong rallied Miami from a 13-point second-half deficit,Norchad Omier made two big free throws and an even more importantsteal down the stretch, and the fifth-seeded Hurricanes stunned No.2 seed Texas 88-81 on Sunday to reach the Final Four for the firsttime in school history.

Miller finished with 27 points, going 7 of 7 from the field and13 of 13 from the foul line, while Wong scored 12 of his 14 pointsin the second half to beat the Longhorns, who had been the topremaining seed in a topsy-turvy NCAA Tournament.

Now, after falling short in the Elite Eight a year ago, thefifth-seeded Hurricanes (29-7) are headed to NRG Stadium in Houstonfor a date with No. 4 seed UConn on Saturday night. Two morefirst-time Final Four participants, 5 seed San Diego State and 9seed Florida Atlantic, will play in the other nationalsemifinal.

In this maddest of Marches, it’s the first time since seedingbegan in 1979 that no team seeded better than No. 4 made the FinalFour.

Miami and Texas were tied 79-all when Omier, who is known forhis bruising style of play, was fouled by the Longhorns’ BrockCunningham while going for a loose ball. He made both of the foulshots to give the Hurricanes the lead, then stole the ball fromTexas star Marcus Carr at the other end, and Wong made to more freethrows with 34 seconds left.

Miller kept drilling foul shots down the stretch to ice theMidwest Region title for the Hurricanes.

Carr scored 17 points to lead the Longhorns (29-9).