This season’s top 20 non-conference games

By Raphielle JohnsonSep 26, 2018, 2:00 PM EDT

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Beginning in September and running up until November 6th, the first day of the season, College Basketball Talk will be unveiling the 2018-2019 NBCSports.com college hoops preview package.

Today, we take a look at the best non-conference games this season.

Who’s excited?

I’m excited.

1. KANSAS at KENTUCKY, January 26 (SEC/Big 12 Challenge)

While the season opener between Kentucky and Duke received a lot of the summertime attention, it isn’t the best non-conference game of the 2018-19 season. That label goes to the Wildcats’ home game against Kansas for three reasons. One, Kentucky and Kansas are considered by many to be top two teams in college basketball entering this season. The second reason: by late January both teams should have a much better idea of who they are. And lastly, nothing beats a true home environment.

2. DUKE vs. KENTUCKY, November 6 (Champions Classic)

This matchup in Indianapolis is the crown jewel of college basketball’s opening night, and it has something for everyone. Two Hall of Fame head coaches, two storied programs and two rosters that don’t lack for high-end talent. Given the players involved, most notably Duke boasting the top three recruits in the Class of 2018 (R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish), there won’t be a lack of NBA eyeballs on this game either. While these teams will have a better idea of who they are later in non-conference play, it’s good to have a game of this caliber to use as a measuring stick right out of the gate.

3. MICHIGAN STATE vs. KANSAS, November 6 (Champions Classic)

The other half of the Champions Classic doubleheader isn’t anything to scoff at either, as Kansas takes on preseason Big Ten favorite Michigan State. While both teams managed to win their respective regular season conference titles last season the postseason brought about different fortunes. Kansas managed to reach the Final Four, but Michigan State saw its season end in the second round. Both teams have some key personnel losses to address, but Kansas has reloaded thanks to the combination of transfers and highly-regarded freshman and there’s optimism regarding Michigan State’s freshman class as well.

Roy Williams and Mark Few (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

4. GONZAGA at NORTH CAROLINA, December 15

Two teams with Final Four aspirations will meet in Chapel Hill in mid-December, and the game will feature a couple of the nation’s best front court players in Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura and North Carolina’s Luke Maye. Both teams are deep, and in addition to the many veterans on display viewers will also get a look at two newcomers expected to have significant impacts on their respective squads in Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke (San Jose State transfer) and North Carolina freshman Nassir Little.

5. KENTUCKY at LOUISVILLE, November 29

One of college basketball’s premier rivalries, the Wildcats and Cardinals renew acquaintances a week after Thanksgiving in Louisville. What also makes this season’s edition important is the fact that this will be Chris Mack’s first as Louisville head coach. And even though it’s Kentucky that’s receiving the preseason praise — and rightfully so — Louisville has to account for the loss of four of its top five scorers from a season ago. Kentucky will likely be favored, but don’t sell the Cardinals short even with the roster turnover.

6. VILLANOVA at KANSAS, December 15

A rematch of last year’s Final Four meeting, which Villanova won handily, it shouldn’t take much to fire up the home folks for their team’s shot at payback. Villanova bid farewell to four talented players after winning the program’s second national title in three years, with all four being taken within the first 33 picks of the NBA draft, but the cupboard is nowhere near bare. As for Kansas, the Jayhawks are ranked either first or second depending upon which preseason poll you look at. This should be a good litmus test for two programs that are expected to reign supreme in their respective conferences.

7. GONZAGA vs. TENNESSEE, December 9 (in Phoenix)

Gonzaga has a tough four-game stretch between December 1 and December 15, with three being away from Spokane. While Mark Few’s team has made a habit of landing in the Top 10 of the national polls the same cannot be said for Tennessee, which enters this season with high hopes after winning a share of the SEC regular season title in 2017-18. This should be a fun matchup, and for Tennessee it’s an opportunity for Rick Barnes’ veteran-laden squad to make a statement nationally.

8. NEVADA at LOYOLA-CHICAGO, November 27 (Missouri Valley/Mountain West Challenge Series)

The Wolf Pack and Ramblers produced one of the best games in last season’s NCAA tournament, with Loyola winning the Sweet 16 matchup 69-68 on the way to the program’s first Final Four appearance since 1963. The rematch will be staged in Chicago, and Nevada begins the season as not only the favorite to win the Mountain West but a trendy Final Four pick as well. As for Loyola, Clayton Custer and company are once again the favorites in the Missouri Valley, but the struggles in putting together their non-conference schedule makes this matchup a critical one should the Ramblers not win the automatic bid.

9. MICHIGAN at VILLANOVA, November 14 (Gavitt Games)

The Wolverines visit Villanova in a rematch of last season’s national title game, and the environment at the newly renovated Finneran Pavilion should be frenzied. Jay Wright’s program has made a habit of selling out (or coming very close to selling out) big games at Wells Fargo Arena in south Philadelphia, but the on-campus environment is something special. Both teams return key contributors from their last meeting, including Villanova’s Eric Paschall and Phil Booth and Michigan’s Charles Matthews and Zavier Simpson, and they’ve also got a lot of young talent to work into the mix as well. That should make for an entertaining early season matchup.

John Beilein and Jay Wright (Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)

10. WASHINGTON at AUBURN, November 9

The second official game of Mike Hopkins’ second season at Washington will be a tough one, as the Huskies invade The Plains to take on Auburn. Bruce Pearl’s squad is coming off of a season in which it won a share of the SEC regular season title, and the Tigers should be really good again in 2018-19. Washington, which just missed out on the NCAA tournament, can say the same since it returns everyone including wing Jaylen Nowell and one of the nation’s best defenders in Mathysse Thybulle. And Washington also boasts a talented big man in senior Noah Dickerson.

11. WEST VIRGINIA at TENNESSEE, January 26 (SEC/Big 12 Challenge)

Yes, the Mountaineers did lose two critical pieces in guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles. But much of the front court, led by Sagaba Konate, is back and the “Press Virginia” mindset remains in place as well. With Tennessee also being a tough squad, this late-January matchup in Knoxville should be a lot of fun. And Konate matching up with Grant Williams? Sign me up for that.

12. PURDUE at FLORIDA STATE, November 28 (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)

While Purdue has, in the eyes of many, the nation’s best point guard in Carsen Edwards that position was a bit of a question mark for Florida State heading into the summer. Leonard Hamilton and company addressed that by landing Albany graduate transfer David Nichols, and the 2017 first team All-America East point guard is more than capable of leading the Seminoles. While Purdue has some major personnel losses to address the Boilermakers should still be a factor in the Big Ten, and Florida State is expected to be one of the better teams in the ACC.

13. MICHIGAN STATE vs. UCLA, November 22 (in Las Vegas)

This matchup is part of the Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational, with North Carolina and Texas meeting in the other semifinal contest Thanksgiving night. And it’s a game between two programs that are expected to, at minimum, be contenders in their respective conferences as Michigan State’s favored to win the Big Ten and UCLA should be in the mix in the Pac-12. Both teams add quality recruiting classes, but the headliners will likely be returnees Cassius Winston and Nick Ward for Michigan State and Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes for UCLA.

14. VIRGINIA TECH vs. WASHINGTON, December 15 (in Atlantic City)

Both the Hokies and Huskies begin the 2018-19 season with expectations of, at the very least, reaching the NCAA tournament. Both teams could prove capable of doing even more than that, especially Washington in what appears to be a wide-open Pac-12, and this neutral site matchup is one to check out on what will be a busy day in college basketball.

15. NORTH CAROLINA at MICHIGAN, November 28 (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)

The Tar Heels and Wolverines met last season in Chapel Hill, with North Carolina picking up the 15-point victory. Michigan will look for revenge in Ann Arbor, and a win will also be the program’s first over North Carolina since the 1992 Rainbow Classic (UNC leads the all-time series 4-2). This game will match two freshman wings that have been on the receiving end of praise this offseason, North Carolina’s Nassir Little and Michigan’s Ignas Brazdeikis.

Mike Krzyzewski (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

16. INDIANA at DUKE, November 27 (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)

While Duke is viewed as a consensus national title contender ahead of the 2018-19 season, Indiana is still working its way back to that level under second year head coach Archie Miller. With an outstanding forward in Juwan Morgan back for his senior season, and a talented freshman class led by five-star wing Romeo Langford, there’s plenty of optimism in Bloomington. This matchup with the Blue Devils at Cameron sets up to be a really good test for the Hoosiers, a game that will show where the program is and how much work there is to be done.

17. AUBURN at NC STATE, December 19

Given the guards in this game, even with Auburn losing Mustapha Heron, the battle between the Tigers and Wolfpack should be fun to watch. Jared Harper and Bryce Brown return for Auburn, and that combo will be joined by VCU transfer Samir Doughty, JUCO transfer J’Von McCormick and Danjel Purifoy on the perimeter. They’ll need to be at their best when it comes to taking care of the basketball, given the pressure that Kevin Keatts likes to throw at opponents. NC State doesn’t lack for options on the perimeter either, with Markell Johnson, Torin Dorn and Braxton Beverly returning and three transfers (including C.J. Bryce) eligible, and they’ll need to ramp things up pace-wise in order to limit the impact of Auburn’s big men.

18. KANSAS at ARIZONA STATE, December 22

Three days before Christmas the Jayhawks head west for a rematch of one of last season’s most surprising results. Arizona State went into Allen Fieldhouse and handed Kansas a 95-85 defeat, and the following day Bobby Hurley’s team was ranked fifth in the nation. The trio of senior guards who led Arizona State to that win have all moved on to the professional ranks, leaving Remy Martin to run the show, but the Sun Devils don’t lack for talent in the front court with Romello White, De’Quon Lake and San Diego State transfer Zylan Cheatham being three of the key contributors. Not much is expected of Arizona State, but this game offers the Sun Devils an opportunity to once again make a statement at Kansas’ expense.

19. WISCONSIN at MARQUETTE, December 8

This season’s edition should be an intriguing one, as Wisconsin looks to bounce back from an injury-riddled 2017-18 and Marquette is viewed by many as the team best equipped to challenge Villanova in the Big East. While that may be the case for a team led by guard Markus Howard and forward Sam Hauser, Marquette will need to make strides defensively in order to live up to the hype. Wisconsin’s healthy, and with Ethan Happ leading the way Greg Gard’s squad should be a factor in the Big Ten.

20. GEORGETOWN at SYRACUSE, December 8

The former Big East rivals meet at the Carrier Dome, with this being Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing’s first trip north since his days as a player. The rivalry angle is what brings the heat in this matchup, because while Syracuse enters this season with designs on a deep NCAA tournament run Georgetown hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2015.

TEN MORE TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR

Louisville vs. Tennessee, November 21 (in Brooklyn)
Nebraska at Clemson, November 26 (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
Virginia at Maryland, November 28 (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
Nevada at USC, December 1
UCF at Missouri, December 2
Xavier at Cincinnati, December 8
Arizona at Alabama, December 9
Oregon at Baylor, December 21
Saint Louis vs. Florida State, December 22 (in Sunrise, Florida)
Davidson at North Carolina, December 29

Unbeaten Gamecocks, Iowa’s Clark star in women’s Final Four

Associated PressMar 27, 2023, 11:48 PM EDT

Jeff Blake/USA TODAY Sports

SEATTLE ⁠— An undefeated South Carolina team led by star Aliyah Boston and guided by vaunted Dawn Staley, an Iowa squad that features high-scoring Caitlin Clark and the return of LSU and flashy coach Kim Mulkey headline the women’s Final Four this weekend.

Virginia Tech is the newcomer to the group as the Hokies are making their first appearance in the national semifinals. Hokies coach Kenny Brooks became the third Black male coach to take a team to the Final Four in women’s basketball history.

All of the women’s basketball world will descend on Dallas this week as the Division I, II and III championships will be held there. It’s only the second time that all three divisions will have their title games in the same place.

Staley and the Gamecocks are looking to become the 10th team to go through a season unbeaten and the first to repeat as champions since UConn won four in a row from 2013-16. South Carolina advanced to its third consecutive national semifinals and fifth since 2015 thanks to another superb effort by Boston, the reigning AP Player of the Year. The three-time All-American had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Maryland on Monday night.

Next up for the Gamecocks is Iowa and the sensational Clark. She helped the Hawkeyes reach their first Final Four in 30 years with a game for the ages in the regional semifinals on Sunday night. The junior guard had the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history in the win over Louisville.

The Gamecocks have the experience edge having reached the Final Four so often with this group. No one on Iowa’s roster was alive the last time the team advanced to the game’s biggest stage. C. Vivian Stringer was the coach of that team in 1993 that reached the Final Four before losing to Ohio State in overtime.

“It is like a storybook, but it’s kind of been like that for us all year long,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I mean, we have had — honestly, we keep talking about destiny and how it’s supposed to happen and it is happening. But I’m so happy for Caitlin. I can remember sitting in her living room and her saying, I want to go to a Final Four. And I’m saying, We can do it together. And she believed me. And so I’m very thankful for that.”

The other game will pit LSU against Virginia Tech. The Tigers are making their first trip to the national semifinals since 2008 when Sylvia Fowles dominated the paint. Now LSU is led by another stellar post player in Angel Reese.

She broke Fowles’ record for double-doubles in a season earlier this year and was key in the Tigers’ win over Miami in the Elite Eight.

Reese, who transferred in this season from Maryland, has made Mulkey’s second season at the school a special one. She came to LSU with a resume headlined by three NCAA titles from her time at Baylor along with some flamboyant sideline looks such as her silver-shimmering jacket with white pants that she wore in the Elite Eight game Sunday.

“What really makes me smile is not cutting that net down,” Mulkey said. “It’s looking around out there at all those LSU people, looking at that team I get to coach experience it for the first time.”

LSU’s opponent is also making its first appearance at the Final Four. The Hokies have had the best season in school history, winning the ACC crown as well under Brooks. He joined former Syracuse Quentin Hillsman and Cheyney State’s Winthrop “Windy” McGriff.

The significance has not been lost on Brooks, who hopes he can inspire other Black male coaches to get more opportunities.

The Hokies run to the national semifinals has been led by star post Elizabeth Kitley and sharpshooter Georgia Amoore. The pair combined for 49 points in the win over Ohio State in the Elite Eight.

Tar Heels’ Love plans to enter name in transfer portal

Associated PressMar 27, 2023, 8:24 PM EDT

Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports

North Carolina guard Caleb Love says he will enter his name into the transfer portal after three seasons with the Tar Heels.

The 6-foot-4 Love announced his decision with a social media post Monday. He had big moments during an unexpected run to last year’s national championship game though he also wrestled with inconsistency for most of his college career.

At his best, Love has game-changing scoring potential and is fearless in taking a big shot. That included scoring 28 points with a huge late 3-pointer to help the Tar Heels beat Duke in the Final Four for the first NCAA Tournament meeting between the rivals and the final game for Blue Devils Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

This season he led the team by averaging 16.7 points. but his shooting percentages all dipped after showing gains in 2022. He never shot 40% from the field for a season and twice failed to shoot 30% on 3s.

UNC returns Armando Bacot, the program’s career leading rebounder and an Associated Press third-team All-American, and guard R.J. Davis at the core of an expected roster revamp. That comes after the Tar Heels became the first team to go from No. 1 in the AP preseason poll to missing the NCAA Tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aaronbeardap

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AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Texas reportedly reaches deal with Terry as full-time coach

Associated PressMar 27, 2023, 8:21 PM EDT

Jay Biggerstaff/USA TODAY Sports

AUSTIN, Texas ⁠— Texas has reached an agreement with Rodney Terry to be the Longhorns’ full-time head basketball coach, taking the interim tag off his title after he led the program to the Elite Eight following the midseason firing of Chris Beard, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.

Texas was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Miami on Sunday, ending its longest postseason run since 2008. Terry and Texas officials reached the agreement Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Terry took over the Longhorns as acting head coach when Beard was first suspended on Dec. 12 after a felony domestic violence arrest. Terry was giving the title of interim head coach when Beard was fired Jan. 5.

Texas won the Big 12 Tournament championship and questions about Terry’s future with the program were amplified as the Longhorns kept winning in the postseason. Texas fans wondered what more he needed to prove and Longhorns players publicly advocated for him to get the job.

“It was all about this team. I’ve enjoyed every single day of this journey with this group,” Terry said in Sunday’s postgame news conference as his voice cracked and he held back tears. “It was never about me. It was always about these guys. I love these guys.”

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte had praised Terry’s job handling the team in crisis and gave him a raise, though only through April. He’d also noted Terry inherited a veteran, senior-heavy roster and strong staff of assistants built by Beard.

That lineup could have disintegrated into chaos after Beard’s arrest. Instead, Terry marched the program to a second-place regular season finish in the Big 12 and a No. 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Longhorns went 22-8 under Terry, and their march to the Elite Eight was the program’s first beyond the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend in 15 years.

Terry is the second Black head coach in program history, joining Shaka Smart, who coached Texas from 2015-2021.

Terry, 54, had a previous stint as an assistant at Texas under Rick Barnes from 2002-2011. He also was head coach at Fresno State and UTEP. He left UTEP after three seasons to join Beard’s staff in 2022. He is 185-164 as a head coach.

Former Texas player T.J. Ford, who led the Longhorns to 2003 Final Four and was that season’s Naismith national player of the year, praised the move to keep Terry.

“I’m very excited that the right decision was made to continue this great culture,” Ford tweeted.

The dormant Texas program had all the signs of renewal under Beard, as he mined the transfer portal to build a roster to compete in the rugged Big 12. He had done the same at Texas Tech, where he led the Red Raiders to the 2019 national championship game.

Beard was arrested after his fiancée called 911 and told police he choked, bit and hit her during a confrontation at his home. She later recanted that she was choked, but Texas still fired Beard as university lawyers called him “unfit” to lead the program.

The Travis County district attorney eventually dismissed the felony charge, saying they could not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, and because of her wishes not to prosecute.

Beard has since been hired at Mississippi.

Caitlin Clark leads Iowa to first Final Four since 1993

Associated PressMar 27, 2023, 11:29 AM EDT

Alika Jenner/Getty Images

SEATTLE – Caitlin Clark put on quite a show, having one of the greatest performances in NCAA Tournament history to help Iowa end a 30-year Final Four drought.

She had 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the No. 2 seed Hawkeyes to a 97-83 win over fifth-seeded Louisville on Sunday night and send the team to its first women’s Final Four in since 1993.

“I dreamed of this moment as a little girl, to take a team to the Final Four and be in these moments and have confetti fall down on me,” said Clark, who is a Iowa native.

The unanimous first-team All-American was as dominant as she’s been all season in getting the Hawkeyes to Dallas for the women’s NCAA Tournament national semifinals on Friday night. The Seattle 4 Region champion will face the winner of the Greenville 1 region that has South Carolina playing Maryland on Monday night.

“I thought our team played really well. That’s what it’s all about. I was going to give it every single thing I had,” said Clark, who was the region’s most outstanding player. “When I came here I said I wanted to take this program to the Final Four, and all you’ve got to do is dream. And all you’ve got to do is believe and work your butt off to get there. That’s what I did, and that’s what our girls did and that’s what our coaches did and we’re going to Dallas, baby.”

Iowa (30-6) hadn’t been to the Final Four since Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer led the team to its lone appearance in 1993. Before Sunday, the team had only been to one other Elite Eight – in 2019 – since the Final Four team.

Clark had the 11th triple-double of her career and the 19th in NCAA Tournament history. She had the first 30- and 40-point triple-double in March Madness history.

“It’s like a storybook, been like that all year long,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “We keep talking about destiny and how it’s supposed to happen. … She’s spectacular. I don’t know how else to describe what she does on the basketball court. A 40-point triple-double against Louisville to go to the Final Four. Are you kidding me? That’s mind-boggling.”

Trailing by five at the half, Louisville cut its deficit to 48-47 before Clark and the Hawkeyes scored the next 11 points as part of a 17-6 run to blow the game open. That brought most of the pro-Iowa crowd of nearly 12,000 fans to their feet.

Louisville was down 22 with just under 6 minutes left before going on a 13-1 run to get within 86-76 with 2:10 left. The Cardinals could get no closer.

Clark left the game with 22.7 seconds left to a loud ovation from the crowd as she hugged her coach. After the game, Clark paraded around the court holding the regional trophy high above her head, delighting the thousands of fans who stuck around to celebrate their Hawkeyes.

Hailey Van Lith scored 27 points and Olivia Cochran had 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead Louisville (26-12).

Clark hit eight of the Hawkeyes’ season-high 16 3-pointers, including a few from just past the March Madness logo. It was a school record for the Hawkeyes in the NCAA Tournament, blowing past the previous mark of 13 against Gonzaga in 2011.

Louisville scored the first eight points of the game, forcing Iowa to call timeout. Then Clark got going. The 6-foot junior scored the first seven points for the Hawkeyes and finished the opening quarter with 15 points. When she wasn’t scoring, she found open teammates with precision passes.

She also had four assists in the first 10 minutes, accounting for every one of Iowa’s points as the Hawkeyes led 25-21.

Clark continued her mastery in the second quarter, hitting shots from all over the court, including a few of her famous long-distance 3s from near the logo.

Louisville was able to stay in the game, thanks to Van Lith. After scoring the first six points of the game, she went quiet before getting going late in the second quarter. She had 11 points in the second quarter as the Cardinals found themselves down 48-43 at the break.

Clark had 22 points and eight assists in the opening 20 minutes enroute to the fourth-highest scoring total all-time in a NCAA regional.

“She played great, she made some big shots,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said of Clark. “She passed the ball well. we turned her over at times.”

1,000-POINT CLUB

Clark has 984 points this season and is looking to join former Hawkeye Megan Gustafson with 1,000 points in a single year. Four other players have done it, including Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, who accomplished the feat this season. Kelsey Plum, Jackie Stiles and Odyssey Sims were the others to do it.

HOMETOWN HERO

Van Lith once again played well in her home state. The small-town standout from 130 miles away from Seattle grew into being one of the best prep players in the country, the all-time state high school leader in scoring and now a star for the Cardinals.

Hundreds of fans from her hometown of Cashmere, which has a population of 3,200, took in the game, cheering the Louisville star on.

EMOTIONAL DAY

It was a bittersweet day for Iowa assistant coach Jan Jensen. Her dad Dale died in the morning after battling pancreatic cancer for a year. He was 86.

“He didn’t sound so good the last couple days and I was kind of fretting, ‘When am I going to go if we go to Dallas?’” she said. “I just feel like he knew. He was never a high maintenance guy, he was never a guy who made it complicated with me in anything. So I think, he told my people at home, I’m not ready to go until Jan’s team is done.”

Miller, Wong rally Miami past Texas 88-81 for 1st Final Four

Associated PressMar 26, 2023, 10:36 PM EDT

Jay Biggerstaff/USA TODAY Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On the eve of Miami playing for a place in its first Final Four, the quiet conversation floating through the team hotel did not revolve around all that the Hurricanes had accomplished this season. Instead, they talked about what had happened to bring last season to a close.

The sting of an Elite Eight defeat was fresh to those who were there. And they made everyone else feel it, too.

“That loss sat with me for a really long time,” the Hurricanes’ Jordan Miller said. “It doesn’t go away, and the fact that we had the opportunity to come back and make amends, make it right, that’s what was pushing me.”

Miller responded with a perfect performance against second-seeded Texas in the Midwest Region final Sunday. Along with Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Isaiah Wong and March dynamo Nijel Pack, Miller rallied the Hurricanes from a 13-point second-half deficit for an 88-81 victory that clinched that long-awaited trip to the national semifinals.

“How hard we fought to come back in this game, especially on a stage like this, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Pack, one of Miami’s newcomers. “I know how much these guys wanted to win this game, especially being here last year and losing the Elite Eight, and now being able to take it to the Final Four is something special.”

Miller finished with 27 points, going 7 of 7 from the field and 13 of 13 from the foul line, while Wong scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half against the Longhorns, who had been the top remaining seed in a topsy-turvy NCAA Tournament.

Now, the No. 5 seed Hurricanes (29-7) have a date with No. 4 seed UConn on Saturday night in Houston. Two more Final Four newbies, fifth-seeded San Diego State and No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic, will play in the other national semifinal.

It’s the first time since seeding began in 1979 that no team seeded better than No. 4 made the Final Four, so perhaps it is fitting that Miami coach Jim Larrañaga is involved. He took George Mason there as an 11 seed 17 years ago to the day.

Miami was a 10 seed last year when it lost 76-50 to eventual national champion Kansas in a regional final.

“No one wanted to go home,” said Miller, coincidentally a George Mason transfer, who joined Duke’s Christian Laettner as the only players since 1960 to go 20 for 20 combined from the field and foul line in an NCAA tourney game. “We came together. We stuck together. We showed really good perseverance and the will – the will to just want to get there.”

After Miami climbed back from a 64-51 deficit with 13:22 to play, the game was tied at 79-all when Norchad Omier was fouled by the Longhorns’ Brock Cunningham while going for a loose ball. He made both of the foul shots to give the Hurricanes the lead, then stole the ball from Texas star Marcus Carr at the other end, and Wong made to more free throws with 34 seconds remaining to keep them ahead for good.

Miller kept drilling foul shots down the stretch to ice the Midwest Region title for the Hurricanes.

Wooga Poplar scored 16 points, and Pack followed up his virtuoso performance against top-seeded Houston with 15, as the same school that once dropped hoops entirely in the 1970s advanced to the game’s biggest stage.

“You just love when your players accomplish a goal they set out before the season,” Larrañaga said.

Carr led the Longhorns (29-9) with 17 points, though he was bothered by a hamstring injury late in the game. Timmy Allen added 16 and Sir’Jabari Rice had 15 in the finale of a season that began with the firing of Chris Beard over domestic violence charges that were later dropped and ended with interim coach Rodney Terry consoling a heartbroken team.

“These guys more than any group I’ve worked with in 32 years of coaching have really embodied, in terms of staying the course, being a team,” Terry said, choking up so hard on the postgame dais that he could barely speak. “They were so unselfish as a team, and they gave us everything they had. They really did.”

The Longhorns revealed about 90 minutes before tipoff that Dylan Disu, the Big 12 tourney MVP and early star of the NCAA Tournament, would miss the game with a foot injury. He hurt it in the second round against Penn State and only played about 90 seconds in the Sweet 16 against Xavier before watching the rest of that game in a walking boot.

Without their 6-foot-9 star, the Longhorns’ deep group of dangerous guards resorted to potshots from the perimeter against Miami’s porous defense. Rice hit two 3s early, Carr two of his own, and the Longhorns stormed to a 45-37 halftime lead.

On the other end, Texas tried to keep Pack and Wong from producing a sequel to their 3-point barrage against Houston.

Pack, who dropped seven 3s in the regional semifinal, didn’t even attempt one until there were 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half, and his best shot – a looping rainbow as he fell out of bounds – didn’t even count because it went over the backboard.

Wong took as many shots and scored as many points (two) as he had turnovers in the game’s first 20 minutes.

The Longhorns’ advantage stretched to 13 in the second half, and tension built on the Miami bench. At one point, Harlond Beverly and Larrañaga got into a verbal spat and the 73-year-old coach yanked the backup guard from the game.

Fortunately for the ’Canes, Pack and Wong were poised, Poplar and Miller seemingly possessed.

Still trailing 72-64 with about eight minutes to play, Pack and Wong joined Miller and Omier in turbocharging a 13-3 run to give the Hurricanes a 77-75 lead, their first since the opening minutes. When Rice answered at the other end for Texas, Miller calmly made two go-ahead free throws to begin his late-game parade to the line.

Carr made a nifty turnaround jumper to tie the game again for Texas, but the Miami momentum never slowed. Omier made two free throws with a minute left, swiped the ball from Carr at the other end, and Miller and Co. finished it off.

“We just all bought into staying together, keeping that hope alive,” Miller said, “and the way we just willed this one through, I think everybody played really well, and I think it really shows the poise of this squad.”