Count Miami Hurricanes among those surprised to see FAU basketball in Final Four

HOUSTON — Count the Miami Hurricanes among those who didn't expect to see Florida Atlantic basketball in the Final Four.

No disrespect, though. Wong and the Hurricanes haven't forgotten last season's escape from Boca Raton.

"To be honest, I did not see this coming," Miami junior guard Isaiah Wong said of FAU's run on Thursday at NRG Stadium. "I feel last year they were a very great team, and last year we only beat them by a buzzer beater. They were very competitive, they played hard.

"They were just a great team to compete with us. And like now they're in the Final Four, and they're making great things and they're a great team."

Miami defeated FAU 68-66 on Nov. 16, 2021 in Boca Raton after Wong hit a layup with 0.7 seconds remaining, staving off the Owls' furious second-half rally.

Larranaga considered his team "lucky" to pull out a win that night and said Dusty May's crew has only become more formidable since.

Should both South Florida teams win Saturday in the Final Four, FAU and Miami would face for the 27th time. The Hurricanes hold a 25-1 record all-time vs. FAU.

"As far as I'm concerned, I hope every eight to 18-year-old that's still growing and trying to find a school, I hope they follow FAU and Miami during this Final Four and decide, I'm going to play, basketball is going to be my primary sport."

Miami Hurricanes: Jim Larranaga: Having UM, FAU in Final Four is ‘wonderful for our region'

Jordan Miller meets Christian Laettner after 'perfect game'

The highest stage in Division I college basketball awaits Jordan Miller's encore to an Elite Eight "perfect game."

Miller was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and 13-of-13 from the free throw line in leading Miami with 27 points in the Hurricanes' 88-81 victory over Texas on Sunday.

"I didn't know I had a perfect game until after the game. Someone came up and told me," Miller said. "Being a competitor, I was just in the moment, just trying to win a basketball game to get to the Final Four. ... But it was cool. I joined some really, really elite company."

Duke legend Christian Laettner was among those who congratulated Miller for his epic performance, surprising the 6-foot-7 senior with a phone call this week.

"They really kept it from me. So it was shocking," Miller said. "But being able to talk to guys like him who have been on the big stage, played in the NBA, had a helluva career, it was a dream come true, you can say."

Isaiah Wong comes full circle vs. UCONN

Miami's matchup with UConn in the Final Four represents a meeting of the final two teams Isaiah Wong considered in his high school recruitment.

Wong, a four-star prospect out of Piscataway, New Jersey, visited the Huskies and Hurricanes on consecutive weekends in September 2018 before ultimately choosing Miami later in the month.

The 6-foot-4 guard has been a star for the Hurricanes, averaging 14.1 points per game over his career and guiding Miami to back-to-back Elite Eights as well as the first Final Four in school history this season.

"It's a small world, I feel, just between UConn and Miami, and now I'm playing UConn in the Final Four," Wong said. "It's just, like I said, a small world just having these two teams come and just having these two teams playing against each other.

Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Final Four: Miami Hurricanes among those surprised by FAU basketball run