Furious Finishes Set the Final Four: Miami and San Diego State Are In
Miami, trailing and listless for much of the first 30 minutes of its round-of-8 game against Texas on Sunday, mounted a stunning, compact comeback in the men’s N.C.A.A. tournament to claim the last spot in the Final Four next weekend in Houston.
Miami, which won, 88-81, will play in its first national semifinal on Saturday against Connecticut. San Diego State, which beat Creighton on a late free throw earlier Sunday, and Florida Atlantic round out the field.
The Hurricanes, calm and persistent, got off to a fast start but quickly fell behind the speedy, sharpshooting Longhorns, who were playing before an overwhelmingly pro-Texas crowd in the same arena where they had captured the Big 12 Conference tournament championship earlier this month.
Miami was down 13 points with 13 minutes left, but the Hurricanes began creeping back, setting up a steadying, then game-tying stretch when it strung together a series of defensive stops and a run of free throws. Forward Norchad Omier coolly hit two of them when the game was tied with a minute left.
