Miami beats No. 1 seed Houston; all four top NCAA seeds out
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 24: Jarace Walker #25, JWan Roberts #13 and Marcus Sasser #0 of the Houston Cougars look on during the first half against the Miami Hurricanes in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Cent
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nijel Pack and Miami hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country to beat Houston 89-75 on Friday night in the Sweet 16, leaving the NCAA Tournament without a single No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979.
Miami (28-7), only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston (33-4), will play second-seeded Texas or No. 3 seed Xavier in the Midwest Region final for the chance to go to the Final Four.
The fifth-seeded Hurricanes reached a regional final for the second straight year just a few hours after Miami’s ninth-seeded women’s team hung on to beat Villanova and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Miami and UConn are the only schools with teams remaining in both tournaments.
This is the first time in three years Houston didn’t make it to the Elite Eight.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.