Miami vs. Wichita State: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

Despite blowing a lead that ballooned to as much as 21 points, the third-seeded Miami Hurricanes defeated the No. 11 seed Wichita State Shockers 65-57 Saturday in the second round of the NCAA tournament at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

The Shockers managed to bounce back from an awful first half that saw them score just 19 points, but they shot an abysmal 33.9 percent from the field for the contest, while the Hurricanes shot 55.3 percent, including 7-of-12 from downtown.

While the Shockers entered the game as two-point favorites, according to Odds Shark, due largely to their experienced backcourt, it was Miami senior guard Angel Rodriguez who stole the show with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

On the heels of Miami clinching its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2013, ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman praised head coach Jim Larranaga:

Wichita State struggled through a nightmarish first half that saw it shoot just 24.1 percent from the field, while the Hurricanes converted 60 percent of their attempts.

Miami took the lead one minute into the game on a Rodriguez jumper and held that advantage throughout the opening 20 minutes. The Shockers stymied Arizona defensively in the first round, but the Canes managed to get plenty of open looks in the early going.

Rodriguez was the story of the half for Miami, as he made all seven of his field-goal attempts for 16 points to lead all scorers, including this smooth trifecta to put the Canes up 23-6:

ACC Men's Basketball perfectly described Rodriguez's red-hot shooting display with this NBA Jam-inspired GIF:

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Rodriguez's offensive output nearly matched that of the entire Wichita State team in the first half:

While Rodriguez was great from the field, it wasn't a perfect half for him since he was responsible for several of Miami's nine turnovers, as pointed out by Rob Dauster of NBC Sports:

The Hurricanes had already built a 21-point lead by the time Wichita State called for a timeout with just over eight minutes remaining in the half, and the field-goal percentage disparity at that point was certainly consistent with the score:

Wichita State's ice-cold start from the field was partially due to a lack of execution, but Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated credited Miami's defensive effort:

Just when it seemed like the Shockers were on life support, the veteran-laden squad started to turn the tide in its favor with an 11-0 run to pull to within 10 points of the lead with under four minutes left in the half.

One thing that allowed the Shockers to prevent the game from getting too far out of hand was their offensive rebounding. They beat the Hurricanes by a 9-1 margin in that category during the first half and scored eight second-chance points.

This follow-up dunk by freshman forward Markis McDuffie represented two of the most emphatic points in that regard:

Wichita State entered the locker room facing a 32-19 deficit, but it had some momentum on its side thanks to a strong close to the half.

As pointed out by Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, the Shockers' stingy defense showed up and shut down Miami for the final eight-plus minutes of the half:

Paul Suellentrop of the Wichita Eagle credited Shockers head coach Gregg Marshall's decision to switch to a zone defense as the reason for their ability to get back in the game:

Miami seemed to shake off its poor finish to the second half by extending its lead to 38-21 during the first few minutes of the second frame.

The Shockers started to battle back, but Hurricanes junior forward Kamari Murphy attempted to nip it in the bud with this steal and emphatic dunk at the 14:53 mark:

That play appeared to awaken Wichita State, however, as it proceeded to go on a 14-2 run to seize its first lead of the contest at 43-42.

Miami once again looked lost on the offensive end during that stretch, which prompted Doug Gottlieb of CBS Sports to implore the Canes to be more aggressive:

As part of the run, senior guard Fred VanVleet made a layup to pull the Shockers within five with 12:28 left in regulation, which prompted Larranaga to call a timeout:

That attempt to slow down Wichita State didn't work, as sophomore forward Shaquille Morris made an opportunistic steal and finished with a dunk less than a minute later:

The Shockers continued to pour it on from there until senior guard Ron Baker nailed a huge triple nearly midway through the second half to put Wichita State on top for the first time:

Wichita State seemed poised to run away with the game at that point, but Miami answered Baker's trifecta with an ambitious half-court alley-oop from Rodriguez to the high-flying Sheldon McClellan:

That big dunk appeared to reinvigorate the Hurricanes, as they started to extend their regained lead once again.

Junior guard Davon Reed was a big part of that with a huge block on one end followed by a three-pointer with less than five minutes left to make it 55-48 in favor of Miami:

Wichita State closed the gap again after that and shrank the Hurricanes' advantage to two points when Baker made this layup with less than three minutes left:

But Miami answered right back on the next possession with a Rodriguez jumper, and Rodriguez then hit the metaphorical dagger with 1:14 on the clock when he nailed a three to put Miami up by seven:

Wichita State may have expended too much energy digging itself out of an early hole to complete the comeback, but Miami certainly showed a great deal of mettle down the stretch to hold off such an experienced squad.

The loss means both VanVleet and Baker will leave the Shockers without a national title to their credit, but they spearheaded one of the most successful runs in school history.

As for the Hurricanes, they await the winner of the No. 2 versus No. 7 matchup between Villanova and Iowa in the Sweet 16.

The Hurricanes seemingly haven't played their best basketball in the first two rounds, as they beat Buffalo by just seven points in the first round and nearly blew a huge lead in the second, but their talent and the play of seniors like Rodriguez and McClellan have carried them through.

If Miami manages to find the form that allowed it to beat teams like Virginia, Duke, Notre Dame and Utah during the regular season, a run to the Elite Eight or perhaps even deeper is very much a possibility.

Postgame Reaction

Wichita State's postgame press conference was understandably emotional, as Marshall bid farewell to senior leaders VanVleet and Baker.

According to Jake Fischer of the Boston Globe, Marshall showed a great deal of gratitude for everything they accomplished during their tenure with the Shockers:

He also had great things to say about both men regarding how they carried themselves, per Chris Stone of Rush the Court:

As seen in this video courtesy of NCAA March Madness, though, Baker was still extremely disappointed with the result despite the remarkable run he enjoyed at Wichita State:

The character and resiliency of VanVleet and Baker very nearly helped Wichita State rise from the ashes and move on, but Miami was able to right the ship. When asked about the Shockers' comeback, Larranaga insisted he wasn't unprepared for the possibility, according to Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post:

The play of Rodriguez is what helped the Hurricanes take the lead early and seal the deal late, and that wasn't lost on Larranaga:

Per Austin Sapin of CanesWarning.com, VanVleet put much of the blame on himself with regard to Rodriguez's dominant performance:

Larranaga, meanwhile, chalked it up to the senior rising to the occasion on the big stage:

Rodriguez acknowledged that and agreed that the high stakes may have contributed to what was perhaps his best game of the season:

The games only get bigger from here, and that could bode well for both Rodriguez and Miami based on what happened Saturday.

Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four. 

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