No. 10 Miami Upsets No. 7 USC, Will Face Auburn in 2nd Round of March Madness

With the win, Miami advanced to the second round in the midwest region, marking the first time since 2016 that the Hurricanes have made it at least that far in the tourney.

Guard Isaiah Wong led the way for Miami with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with four rebounds, one assist and one steal. Meanwhile, Moore chipped in 16 points, five assists and four steals.

Ball security was the biggest key to Miami’s success with the Hurricanes turning the ball over only three times compared to USC’s 18 turnovers.

The turnover disparity was enough to down the Trojans despite the Hurricanes getting out-rebounded 38-26 and going just 1-for-14 from three-point range.

Notable Stats

Isaiah Wong, G, MIA: 7/12 FG for 22 PTS, 4 REB

Drew Peterson, G, USC: 7/15 FG for 17 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST

Charlie Moore, G, MIA: 5/11 FG for 16 PTS, 5 AST, 4 STL, 3 REB

Reese Dixon-Waters, G, USC: 5/6 FG for 16 PTS, 2 REB

Recap

Friday’s contest was a tale of two halves, as the Hurricanes dominated during the first half only for USC to make things interesting in the second.

Wong was the standout for Miami throughout the game, and it became apparent early on that he was in for a huge performance.

Buckets were tough to come by for both teams in the early going, but Wong out-scored USC 10-4 on his own by the time the first half ticked under 12 minutes remaining:

In fact it wasn’t until more than midway through the opening half that a player other than Wong scored points for the Hurricanes, per Adam Lichtenstein of the Sun Sentinel:

While it was far from an ideal start for Miami, USC head coach Andy Enfield was clearly miffed at his team’s performance in the early going.

At the under-12-minute break, Enfield lamented the fact that his Trojans had already turned the ball over five times and gone just 3-of-13 from the field:

USC’s struggles largely continued throughout the remainder of the first half, as Miami took a 31-20 lead into the locker room.

Things were looking bleak for the Trojans, but they turned things around in the second half and quickly erased the double-digit deficit.

As noted by Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, USC rode a 10-0 run to a 35-33 lead less than five minutes into the second half:

The game was nip and tuck the rest of the way with several lead changes and ties right up to the final buzzer.

With less than a minute remaining, Kameron McGusty extended the Miami lead from three to five, which put the Trojans in dire straits:

A huge three from Peterson with about 25 seconds remaining cut USC’s deficit back down to one, however:

USC then managed to tie it at 66-66 on a Peterson layup with 14 seconds left, but Moore’s cool and calm performance at the free-throw line with three seconds remaining put the Canes ahead for good.

What’s Next?

By virtue of their win, the Hurricanes will move on to face the second-seeded Auburn Tigers in the second round of the tournament on Sunday.