James Dews' game-winning shot at the final buzzer went swish. His celebratory leap into a throng of jubilant teammates was dead center, too.
After misfiring most of the night, including on an important free throw in the final minute, Dews made a 15-footer Wednesday to give Miami a 64-62 victory over No. 20 Georgia Tech.
Dews finished only 3 for 11, and he missed the front end of a one-and-one with 19 seconds to go. But when coach Frank Haith called timeout with the score tied and 10 seconds left, he chose Dews to take the final shot.
``James is a senior. I felt he'd have poise and make the shot,'' Haith said. ``You look at his numbers and he wasn't having a great night. But we told him at the timeout, `Hey, you're going to win the game for us.'''
The Hurricanes (17-7, 3-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) won for only the second time in the past eight games.
``We know what we can do and what we're capable of,'' Dews said. ``Now we've just got to build on this.''
Georgia Tech (17-7, 5-5) dropped to 1-4 on the road in the conference.
``To me this is the toughest league to win road games,'' coach Paul Hewitt said. ``But these are young kids. I'm sure they'll shake it off.''
Miami led by 14 points at halftime and stayed ahead for the first 19:50 of the second half. But Iman Shumpert sank a layup for Tech to tie it with 10 seconds to go.
Following Haith's timeout, the Hurricanes moved the length of the court and Durand Scott fed Dews, who came off a double screen to take the pass. He faked out a defender before sinking his shot.
Then came the celebration in front of the Hurricanes' bench.
``It's a great feeling, seeing the excitement in my teammates,'' Dews said. ``I wanted to do this for them.''
Dews ranked the basket as the biggest of his college career. It was his first game-winner since high school.
Dwayne Collins had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Hurricanes. Adrian Thomas scored 12 points, all on 3-pointers, and Malcolm Grant had 11, all in the first half. Reserve Reggie Johnson added 10 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes.
Miami held Georgia Tech to 39 percent shooting.
``We put the game on our defense,'' Haith said. ``We did a great job trying to control the paint.''
Announced attendance was 4,319, but the crowd numbered less than 500, pep band included, when the Hurricanes took the court a few minutes before tip-off. Despite the empty seats, the Hurricanes play their best at home, where they're 11-1.
Brian Oliver scored 19 points off the bench for Tech, and junior Gani Lawal had 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Teammate Zachery Peacock, a Miami native, shot 2 for 9 and totaled only four points.
Free throws have been a problem all season for the Yellow Jackets, and they made only eight of 16. They also shot 6 for 17 from 3-point range.
Miami fell behind 8-0, then outscored Tech 41-19 the remainder of the first half.
``We lost our way for a little while,'' Hewitt said. ``And Miami shot the ball very, very well.''
A pair of 3-pointers by Grant put the Hurricanes ahead, and with a 14-3 run they increased the lead to 29-18. Miami shot 7 for 15 from 3-point range in the opening half but only 1 for 9 the rest of the way. Tech went to a press in the second half, and that threw the Hurricanes out of their offensive rhythm.
Oliver sank a pair of 3-pointers during a 13-2 run by the Yellow Jackets that cut the deficit to 52-50. But Haith managed to settle his Hurricanes.
``I told them we were going to win the game,'' he said. ``We just needed to stay together.''
Miami rebuilt the lead to 60-52, and Collins' dunk made it 62-58. But Shumpert sank two free throws with 20 seconds left for Tech, then hit the layup to tie it.
