The 13th seed Miami Hurricanes eliminated the 5th seed Clemson Tigers 67-64 for the first big upset of the tournament. Miami is now the first No. 13 seed to ever reach the quarterfinals in the New York Life ACC Tournament. The Hurricanes will proceed to face the 4th seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon. Georgia Tech will make their 2021 tournament debut after the double-bye and with their highest seed since 2004. Tech and Miami met back in February and the Yellow Jackets won the regular-season matchup 87-60. Both teams are coming in hot as Tech is on a six-game winning streak and Miami is on a three-game streak.
The Hurricanes Isaiah Wong has scored 20 points in both rounds of the tournament and Yellow Jackets will need to contain him early. When Tech and Miami faced off in the regular season, Wong left the game with an ankle sprain in the first half. Tech’s Jose Alverado was declared ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a matchup between him and Wong will be anticipated. Georgia Tech is a team that scores with the best of them as junior guard Michael Devoe dropped 29 points during the first matchup with the Hurricanes.
Georgia Tech also brings ACC Player of the Year Moses Wright to the party. Wright will need to establish dominance down low tomorrow as Miami will test the big man. Miami guards’ Isaiah Wong and Kameron McGusty were extremely productive driving inside the lane in the upset over Clemson. They split double teams with ease as Miami scored 40 of their points in the paint. Defending the paint is an area Tech can struggle with at times and will have to tighten up in their re-match with the Miami Hurricanes. Tip-off is set for 2:30 pm with the game being aired on the ESPN family of networks.
