Colleges

Michigan keeps 'Canes at bay

By wire services
Published March 23, 2006

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Daniel Horton scored 19 and Chris Hunter 16 Wednesday to help Michigan make the NIT semifinals with a 71-65 victory over Miami.

Dion Harris and Lester Abram added 15 points each to help the Wolverines (21-10) extend the nation's longest postseason winning streak to eight games and improve to 16-0 in home NIT games.

Michigan and Old Dominion meet for the first time Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The victory gave the team's seniors a chance to take a final walk out of Crisler Arena on a high after losing their regular-season finale here.

"This is a lot better than senior day," Hunter said. "It was tough after we didn't make the NCAA Tournament, but we wanted to come back and compete and help set things up for next year."

The Wolverines lost seven of their last nine and were one of the last teams left out of the NCAA Tournament.

"We had to dig out of an emotional hole," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "We've got a tough senior class and you can see that these guys still enjoy wearing that uniform."

Guillermo Diaz scored 20 and Robert Hite 19 for the Hurricanes (18-16), who lost 74-53 here Nov. 29 in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

Miami went on a 9-2 run to cut Michigan's lead to 60-55 with 3:53 left. But Harris, the star of Monday's double-overtime win over Notre Dame, answered with a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to stop the rally.

"We had the ball with a chance to cut it to three or two points, but Harris took a bad shot," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "That was a big turnaround."

Michigan made 21 of 22 free throws and sank all six attempts in the last three minutes.

LOUISVILLE 74, MISSOURI ST. 56: Taquan Dean scored 26 to lead the Cardinals to the NIT semifinals for the first time in 21 years.

Terrence Williams added 14 points for Louisville (21-12), and Juan Palacios had a season-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points. The Cardinals held the Bears to 27 percent shooting from the floor in winning their seventh straight home game.

Louisville used a 22-4 run spanning the halves to take control.

ODU 61, HOFSTRA 51: Isaiah Hunter scored a career-high 29, and the Monarchs snapped the Pride's 21-game home winning streak. Hofstra, which had the second-longest streak in the nation, lost at home for the first time Jan. 19, 2005, also to Old Dominion (24-9).

[Last modified March 23, 2006, 02:15:42]