WASHINGTON, March 29 (UPI) -- Jamil Wilson led the offense Thursday and Marquette took advantage of cold Miami shooting for a 71-61 victory in the NCAA's East Region semifinals.
The Hurricanes were dismal from the field in the first half, produced just 16 points during the first 20 minutes and fell behind by 22 late in the game before a closing flurry made the final score respectable.
Marquette, which shared the regular-season Big East Conference title with Louisville and Georgetown, will face another league rival on Saturday with a spot in the Final Four on the line. Syracuse set up the regional final meeting with Marquette by downing No. 1 seed Indiana 61-50.
Miami, regular-season and tournament champ in the Atlantic Coast Conference, took a 4-2 lead 2:30 into the game and did not score another point for 7 minutes.
The Hurricanes hit just five of their first 24 shots. Miami's starting guard tandem of Durand Scott and Trey McKinney-Jones combined to go 6-of-23 from the field.
Wilson came off the bench to score 16 points for Marquette (26-8) while both Vander Blue and Davante Gardner had 14. The Golden Eagles hit 54 percent of their shots and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tourney for the first time in a decade. Marquette made it to the Final Four in 2003 before losing to Kansas.
Miami (29-7) eventually shot 36 percent for the game. In a desperate attempt to catch up the Hurricanes attempted 26 shots from 3-point range and made just eight of them. Shane Larkin led Miami with 14 points.
