No. 20 Notre Dame Rallies To Beat Miami, 67-62
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — V.J. Beachem sank the go-ahead basket and made the clinching steal as No. 20 Notre Dame rallied from a four-point deficit in the final 2 1/2 minutes to beat Miami, 67-62, on Thursday night.
The Fighting Irish (15-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) outscored Miami 10-1 down the stretch to earn their sixth straight victory. Their four league wins have been by a total of 18 points.
Miami (11-4, 1-2) had its 21-game home winning streak snapped.
The Fighting Irish were down 61-57 with 2:30 left, but Beachem's reverse layup put them ahead 63-61 with 1:04 to go. After Ja'Quan Newton made one of two free throws for Miami, Steve Vasturia drove for a layup with 8 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout, Beachem made a steal on the inbounds play, and Matt Farrell's two free throws iced the victory.
Notre Dame won despite shooting a season-low 37 percent, with Miami blocking a season-high 12 shots.
Farrell led the Irish with 15 points and six assists, and Beachem had 13 points.
Miami senior Davon Reed tied a career high with 21 points but made a critical turnover down the stretch. The Hurricanes had 13 turnovers to only six for Notre Dame.
BIG PICTURE
The Fighting Irish, who outscored opponents 25-6 in the final 6:42 of their first three league games, again came through down the stretch. Their other conference wins were by one, seven and five points.
RUNS
The Irish led only briefly in the first half but outscored Miami 10-0 to begin the second half and take a 38-28 lead. Bonzie Colson started the run with a 3-pointer, and Martinas Geben finished it with a dunk.
Notre Dame had its biggest lead at 50-39 before the Hurricanes went on a 13-2 run to forge a tie and set the stage for the frantic finish.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will remain on the road to play at Virginia Tech on Saturday. That's the second of three consecutive away games for the Irish.
Miami plays at Pittsburgh on Saturday, and its next three games are on the road.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
