WASHINGTON -- Pete Gillen put his arms in the air, spun and did a little jig after the final whistle. A few minutes later, in the hallway by the locker room, Gillen's wife gave J.R. Reynolds a big hug and said: "Thank you, thank you."

The appreciation was well-deserved. Reynolds single-handedly carried Virginia for most of the night, scoring a career-high 32 points and making sure his embattled coach would have a job for a least one more game.

The Cavaliers beat Miami 66-65 Thursday in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, surviving only after the Hurricanes' Anthony Harris missed the mark with a last-second, wide-open 3-pointer that would have won the game.

"I'm an emotional guy," Gillen said. "I cry when supermarkets open. The season's over if he makes the shot. We're excited to win. I'm happy for the players. They showed courage and confidence. We play them tomorrow, they probably beat us."

Instead, the Cavaliers will face third-seeded and No. 5 Duke in Friday's quarterfinals, with Gillen's future still far from settled. Virginia (14-14) is seeded last in the tournament, the result of a five-game losing streak to end the regular season, part of a 3-13 slide from the pinnacle of a Top 25 ranking in late December.

Reynolds made 10 of 14 shots, including 5 of 7 3-pointers, and got virtually no support from his teammates until a 9-4 game-closing run.

"J.R. was spectacular," Gillen said. "Without him, we lose by double figures."

Devin Smith, who was 1-for-9 at the time, hit a 3-pointer with 2:26 to play to give Virginia its first lead of the second half, 62-61. Freshman Sean Singletary also struggled all game, but he made a tough short jumper in traffic to push the lead to three.

However, the game was in the balance until literally the final second. Guillermo Diaz made two free throws with 22 seconds remaining to pull Miami within one, 66-65. Anthony King then stole an errant inbounds pass, giving the Hurricanes the chance to set up the final shot for the win. Harris couldn't have had a better look, but he was off target.

"We did not want to shoot a 3," coach Frank Haith said. "We were trying to attack. Guillermo made a nice play, made a nice kickout, and Anthony had a wide open shot."

Diaz finished with 20 points, his 26th consecutive double-digit game, to lead Miami (16-12), but he made just 5 of 15 shots. The Hurricanes shot 31 percent from the field and made just one field goal in the game's final 10 minutes.

Miami, picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason poll, entered its first ACC tournament as the No. 6 seed in Haith's first season as a head coach, but the loss probably ends any hope of receiving an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. The Hurricanes have lost five of their last six.

"We missed a lot of shots around the hoop," Haith said. "We just didn't shoot the ball well. Virginia changed defenses, a lot of zone and man-to-man, but I thought we missed a lot of wide open shots, too. I thought we rushed some shots."

Gillen shook up his lineup, giving freshman center Tunji Soroye his first start of the season while bringing Reynolds and Elton Brown off the bench. Reynolds turned out to be the only consistent offensive threat, making 10 of the team's 22 field goals and becoming the first Virginia player to score 30 points in an ACC tournament game since 1995.

With expansion to 11 teams, the ACC no longer has a true play-in game, but this contest had a play-in feel as both teams struggled to score. The Hurricanes got eight of their first 12 points on putbacks off offensive rebounds and didn't score a point outside the paint until Harris' 3-pointer with 6:24 to go in the half.

A 10-0 run helped Miami take a 34-30 halftime lead. The Hurricanes kept Virginia at arm's length for much of the second half but never could get the lead to double digits. Miami relied on free throws for all but two of its points over the final 10 minutes, allowing Virginia to rally for the win.

The victory improved Gillen to just 2-7 in the ACC tournament, and his only other victory came in last year's play-in game. The good news is that, unlike last year, the new format doesn't require his team to follow a Thursday night game with a Friday matinee. The Virginia-Duke game will be at 9:30 p.m.

"We don't have a whole lot of time," Smith said, "but at least we don't play at 12 like we did last year."