NCAA: Miami frozen out

Marquette's defense, fueled by Vander Blue, halts the 2nd-seeded Hurricanes' run.

Associated Press

Miami center Tonye Jekiri (right) loses control of the ball under pressure from Marquette guard Trent Lockett (22) in an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA tournament Thursday in Washington.

Associated Press

Miami forward Kenny Kadji (35) chews on his jersey during their 71-61 loss to Marquette on Thursday in the NCAA East Region semifinals in Washington.

Turn captions on

1 of 2

NCAA headquarters

Follow all of the tournament action.

Joseph White | Associated Press

Thursday, March 28, 2013

WASHINGTON — Vander Blue’s buzzer-beater came at the end of the first half. For a change, Marquette didn’t need one at the end of the game.

After sweating through a pair of edge-of-your-seat comebacks in the NCAA tournament, Blue and the Golden Eagles figured out how to put one away early, earning Marquette’s first trip to the Elite Eight since 2003 with a 71-61 win over Miami on Thursday night.

Blue, who spurred the rallies that beat Davidson by one and Butler by two, finished with 14 points. He wasn’t Marquette’s leading scorer — that was Jamil Wilson with 16 — but it was Blue’s offensive and defensive energy that pushed the Golden Eagles to a double-digit lead in the first half, a spread Miami never came close to making up.

“It’s amazing, man,” Blue said in a postgame television interview. “Everybody said this team wasn’t any good.”

The third-seeded Golden Eagles (26-8) will face either top-seeded Indiana or No. 4seed Syracuse in the East Regional final on Saturday, aiming for a spot in the Final Foul for the first time since Dwyane Wade took them there a decade ago.

Wade, the Miami Heat star, tweeted congratulations to coach Jim Larranaga and the Hurricanes — as well as his alma mater.

“Congrts on an amazing season for coach L and the canes...after 3 tries in the sweet 16 we finally figured it out. Congrts,” he posted.

Marquette was knocked out in the round of 16 the past two years and four of the past five.

The game wasn’t hard to decipher. Marquette could shoot; Miami couldn’t. The Hurricanes (29-7) had sentiment on their side, returning to the arena where Larranaga led mid-major George Mason to the Final Four seven years ago, but they made only 35 percent of their field goals and missed 18 of 26 3-pointers.

“We just shot the ball so poorly,” Larranaga said, also lamenting some injuries that hindered his team’s preparation this week. “When you can’t put the ball in the basket, you really have a hard time staying with a team like Marquette.”

Marquette, meanwhile, shot 54 percent, a stark turnaround from its 38 percent rate from the first two games in the tournament. Davante Gardner added 14 points, with 12 coming in the second half when the Golden Eagles were comfortably ahead.

Shane Larkin scored 14 points to lead the No. 2 seed Hurricanes, whose NCAA run to the round of 16 matched the best in school history.

Blue missed his first two shots — pining for a foul after throwing up a clumsy airball on a baseline drive — but he got on the board when he picked off a pass and converted the steal into a one-handed jam to give Marquette an 8-4 lead.

That got him going. A running one-hander made it 12-4. Blue and Junior Cadougan forced a steal, getting Larkin to commit his second foul in the process. The next time Blue missed, Trent Lockett was there to dunk the rebound and put the Golden Eagles up by nine.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes couldn’t sink a shot, from inside or out. Raphael Akpejiori flung a hook that hit so high off the backboard that it looked better suited for a setup toss in a dunk contest. Miami started 2 for 12, including 0 for 6 from 3-point range, and Larkin’s 3-pointer more than 11 minutes into the game was the first Hurricanes field goal scored by anyone other than Kenny Kadji.

MARQUETTE (26-8)

Cadougan 2-6 4-7 8, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Blue 7-12 0-0 14, Lockett 3-6 2-2 8, Otule 5-9 1-2 11, J. Wilson 5-9 3-4 16, Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0, D. Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor, Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Gardner 5-7 4-4 14. Totals 27-50 14-19 71.

MIAMI (29-7)

Larkin 4-8 4-5 14, Scott 3-13 3-4 10, McKinney Jones 3-10 0-0 9, Kadji 5-12 0-0 11, Gamble 2-3 2-3 6, Akpejiori 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 2-12 0-0 5, Swoope 3-3 0-0 6, Jekiri 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 9-12 61.

Halftime—Marquette 29-16. 3-Point Goals—Marquette 3-6 (J. Wilson 3-4, Anderson 0-1, Cadougan 0-1), Miami 8-26 (McKinney Jones 3-8, Larkin 2-5, Scott 1-1, Kadji 1-4, Brown 1-8). Fouled Out—Scott. Rebounds—Marquette 36 (Lockett 11), Miami 31 (Scott 7). Assists—Marquette 14 (D. Wilson 3), Miami 12 (Scott 5). Total Fouls—Marquette 11, Miami 15. A—NA.

Monday, August 12, 2013