Canes outlast Hokies in Triple overtime marathon

Wyatt Krueger

February 21, 2020

BLACKSBURG, VA. – In the longest ACC game since 2003, the Miami Hurricanes (14-12, 6-10 ACC) outlasted the Virginia Tech Hokies (15-11, 6-9) in triple overtime, winning 102-95 in Blacksburg.

Heading into Wednesday night, Virginia Tech and Miami had very thin hopes of getting an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. The Hurricanes were able to escape and keep those hopes alive with a win on the road.

“[The players] give us everything they have in the tank every time they go on the floor,” Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said. “Miami is playing good, I thought we were very good in a number of areas, you just hate to lose that one.”

The Hokies’ faced an early deficit after going 2-8 from the field throughout the first seven minutes of play. Guards Wabissa Bede and Hunter Cattoor hit back-to-back threes with just under 12:37 remaining to get the Hokies offense and the crowd into the game.

Miami guard Chris Lykes caught fire late in the first half netting 11 points, 3 assists and 2 steals in the first 20 minutes of play. Lykes would go on to contribute 23 points and 4 assists.

With 1:25 left in the first half, Mike Young received a technical foul after arguing a Tyrece Radford charge call. Shortly after, Miami forward Sam Waardenburg received a technical foul of his own for arguing a foul call. Heading into halftime, the Hokies trailed the Hurricanes 41-32.

Despite trailing by as many as 12 in the second half, Tyrece Radford lead a scoring run for the Hokies with less than ten minutes left to play. Jalen Cone capped off the run with a three in transition that gave Virginia Tech a three-point-lead and had the Cassell Coliseum crowd rocking.

Radford, who has emerged as a rising star for the Hokies, added 26 points with 10 rebounds on 48% shooting.

“He’s turning into a terrific player,” Young said about Radford. “He’s so aggressive, and he’s going to keep getting better.”

Despite scoring 18 points, it was a poor shooting performance for redshirt freshman Landers Nolley, who made four of his 21 attempts from the field.

Down the stretch, the Hokies and Hurricanes went back and forth.

With 13 seconds left in regulation, Miami’s Kameron McGusty drove the floor and got a layup to fall, while also getting a foul from Radford. McGusty’s free throw tied the game with five seconds to go, and Radford’s shot at the buzzer was blocked by Keith Stone, sending the game into overtime.

With one minute to play in the first overtime, the Hokies led 84-80. That’s when Isaiah Wong came to life, hitting two jumpers to tie the game at 84 with five seconds, forcing a second overtime.

With thirty seconds remaining in the second overtime, Bede hit a short jumper to give the Hokies a two-point lead.

Yet again, Wong answered with a shot for the Hurricanes, one almost identical to his from the first overtime, sending the game into a third overtime.

"We ended up with Chris Lykes with four fouls and then we had to make a decision," Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. "We took Chris out and put Isaiah [Wong] at the point. He went on a roll and he got fouled and he was making all of his free throws and that’s what took us into the first overtime and the second overtime.”

Wong and Lykes shined in the back court for the Hurricanes, scoring a combined 46 points on 13-31 shooting from the field, while also going a perfect 16-16 from the free throw line. It was Wong's late game heroics that saved Miami.

“It was just some playing within the system," Wong said. "Creating for players, trying to get other players to score and just trying to play defense as a team. It was just trying to get everyone involved.”

In the last five minutes of play, the Hokies made just two baskets. Despite cutting the Hurricane lead to three with under a minute to play, a layup from Lykes put the game away for Miami.

Virginia Tech now sits in eleventh place in the ACC and heads to Durham to take on the Duke Blue Devils (22-4 12-3 ACC) on Saturday. As for Miami, they sit one spot behind the Hokies and will take on Notre Dame (16-10, 7-8 ACC) on Sunday.