Boopie Miller's half-court buzzer-beater sends SMU past Virginia Tech 77-76

Audio By Carbonatix

DALLAS (AP) — Boopie Miller's half-court heave as time expired pushed SMU past Virginia Tech 77-76 in a thriller Wednesday night.

Miller scored 24 points, 19 in the second half, and dished out six assists for the Mustangs (13-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Jaron Pierre Jr. grabbed a rebound with 1.7 seconds remaining after a missed free-throw, and each team called a timeout before the inbounds play. B.J. Edwards found a streaking Miller, who took two dribbles and made the shot from half court.

The winner was Miller's first made 3-pointer of the night after missing his first five attempts. Miller was 6 of 15 from the field and 11 of 16 from the free-throw line.

SMU played from behind for all but 1:13 of the second half, but held the deficit to single-digits.

Samet Yigitoglu scored 14 points and Pierre Jr. tallied 13 points and nine rebounds for the Mustangs, who snapped a two-game skid. Jaden Toombs had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Jailen Bedford led the Hokies (13-5, 2-3) with 22 points, and Jaden Schutt added 15.

Missed free-throws doomed Virginia Tech down the stretch, managing just 61% from the foul line overall and 43% in the second half. SMU converted on 70% of their free-throw attempts (67% in the second half).

SMU: Hosts Virginia on Saturday.

Virginia Tech: Hosts Notre Dame on Saturday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball