Rebounding Dominance Powers Miami’s 85-69 Win Over Indiana in Round of 32

Miami’s ability to out-pace and out-finesse teams has been a driving force throughout most of its season-long success. Instead, it was its physicality and grit that powered its 85-69 Round of 32 win over Indiana.

The Hurricanes held a 48-31 rebounding advantage and out-boarded the Hoosiers on the offensive glass, 20-12. Norchad Omier was the leader of this dominating team effort, finishing with 17 rebounds, a Miami tournament record.

“I just went out, Isaiah [Wong], Nijel [Pack], Jordan [Miller] was scoring, and I just went to do my job. I rebound, and that’s what I did,” Omier said.

Wong was the commander of Miami’s 85-point scoring outburst, which was the most the Canes have scored in an NCAA Tournament game. Wong had a game-high 27 points, 17 of which were in the second half.

This was a bounce-back performance from the fourth-year guard, who tied his season low with five points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field in Miami’s tournament debut.

“I feel like I didn’t play to my full potential last game, and really I feel like I had — or my team gave me another chance to perform, and I appreciate them for that,” Wong said. “We won the game two days ago, and today I performed well. I appreciate the team for that helping me out, getting me passes and getting me in the rhythm.”

The Hurricanes’ offense was on fire from the start. Miami knocked down eight of its first 11 field goals, eclipsing the seven field goals it made in the first half against Drake.

This offensive outburst spearheaded a 28-15 UM lead to begin the game. 

Trailing by 13 midway through the first half, consensus All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis and the Hoosiers found their groove. Indiana went on a 10-0 run, with Jackson-Davis scoring seven of these points.

The senior forward had 11 points and four rebounds in the opening period and helped Indiana end the half on a 5-0 run. Miami held a 40-35 lead at the break. Jackson-Davis finished the game with a team-high 23 points and eight rebounds.

Wong and Pack combined for 20 points in the first half.

Pack, an Indianapolis native, enjoyed playing against his home-state team in his first career tournament run.

“It’s definitely a blessing to be here. Childhood dream to be in this tournament, and getting to play against your home school is obviously an amazing experience,” Pack said. “But this tournament as a whole, it’s been a great experience. This is our first stop, but we’ve obviously got plenty more stops to go.”

Indiana carried over the momentum it ended the first half with into the second. The Hoosiers started the half on a 9-0 run and took their first lead of the game on a second-chance bucket by Jackson-Davis.

Miami retook the lead on a basket from Miller with 12:21 left in the second half and maintained this advantage for the remainder of the game.

The fifth-year forward Miller scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half including a pair of breakaway dunks to cement the Hurricanes’ victory.

With the win, Miami is now 5-2 in the Round of 32 and has a 13-11 all-time record in the tournament. The Canes are advancing to their sixth Sweet 16 in program history, and this is the first time they have done so in back-to-back seasons.

Miami will play Houston at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, March 24, with an opportunity to advance to its second consecutive Elite Eight on the line.