Hurricanes nearly blow big lead to Cowboys

Robert Hite and Guillermo Diaz scored 15 points apiece and Miami survived a frantic late rally to beat Oklahoma State 62-59 in the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night at Coral Gables, Fla.

The Hurricanes (17-15), who hosted a postseason game for the first time in school history, finished with a season-high 14 steals.

The Hurricanes led 28-20 at halftime and went ahead 46-32 after Hite hit a 3-pointer with 10 minutes, 35 seconds to play. Oklahoma State responded with an 18-8 surge, pulling within 54-50 when Mario Boggan converted 1 of 2 free throws with 2:27 remaining.

Boggan scored 16 points for the Cowboys (17-16), who dropped a first-round NIT game for the first time since 1956.

Miami then scored four points during a 15-second span, taking a 58-50 lead on a layup by Denis Clemente with 45 seconds remaining.

But Byron Eaton responded with back-to-back 3-pointers and JamesOn Curry hit a 3-pointer with 22.1 seconds left to cut it to 60-59.

Hite was fouled with 20 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Oklahoma State’s David Monds had a look at an open layup with 7 seconds remaining, but the shot rimmed out and bounced out of bounds.

Diaz converted a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds left to give Miami a 62-59 lead, and Eaton misfired on a last-second 3-point attempt.

Old Dominion 79, Colorado 61: At Boulder, Colo., Isaiah Hunter matched a career high with 28 points as the Monarchs (22-9) defeated the Buffaloes (20-10).

Hunter was 5 for 8 on 3-pointers and Armoud Dahi added 16 points for the Monarchs. Old Dominion was 31 for 41 on free throws.

Notre Dame 79, Vanderbilt 69: At South Bend, Ind., Torin Francis had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Quinn and Colin Falls added 15 points each to lead the Irish (16-13) over the Commodores (17-13).

Houston 77, BYU 67: At Houston, Oliver Lafayette scored 23 points, including eight straight in a span of 39 seconds, to lead the Cougars (21-9) past BYU (20-9).

Minnesota 73, Wake Forest 58: At Minneapolis, Vince Grier totaled 18 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals to lead the Gophers (16-14) over the Demon Deacons (17-17).

Clemson 69, Louisiana Tech 53: At Clemson, S.C., Akin Akingbala had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers (19-12) past the Bulldogs (20-13).

South Carolina 74, Western Kentucky 55: At Columbia, S.C., Tarence Kinsey scored 23 points and Antoine Tisby added 16 to lift the Gamecocks (19-5) over the Hilltoppers (23-8).