Miami 54, Georgia Tech 36: Freshman Shane Larkin had 12 points, and the Hurricanes kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive by scoring 18 straight points in the second half against the short-handed Yellow Jackets in the first round of the ACC tournament.
 
Durand Scott scored 11 points and Rion Brown added 10 for the sixth-seeded Hurricanes (19-11), who advance to face No. 3 seed Florida State on Friday night in the quarterfinals at Atlanta.
 
Miami knocked off then-No. 15 Florida State at home two weeks ago, but it will need a better effort to upset the Seminoles again. The Hurricanes sleepwalked through the first 20-plus minutes before pulling away to beat the 11th-seeded Yellow Jackets (11-20) for the eighth time in 10 tries.
 
Georgia Tech led 20-19 at halftime and 27-24 six minutes into the second half. But Brown hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Larkin had a pair of breakaway layups during the 18-0 spurt, which gave Miami a 42-27 lead with 8:39 to play.
 
Mfon Udofia scored 13 points for the Yellow Jackets, who committed 20 turnovers and were held to their lowest point total of the season. Georgia Tech played a six straight game without suspended leading scorer and rebounder, Glen Rice Jr.
 
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Hurricanes had just one assist in the first half. … Larkin’s father, Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, was in attendance. … The 39 combined points tied the mark for the lowest-scoring first half in an ACC game this season.