Tyler Zeller’s basket at the buzzer off a Kendall Marshall feed was the difference as North Carolina overcame a 19-point second-half deficit to stun Miami 61-59 Friday in an ACC tournament quarterfinal at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Zeller's basket accounted for the top-seeded Tar Heels’ only lead of the game and propelled them into Saturday’s 1 p.m. tournament semifinal against Clemson. The two points were the biggest of Zeller’s 13 for the game and extended UNC’s winning streak to eight games.

Freshman Harrison Barnes poured in a game-high 18 points for Carolina (25-6), which looked dead in the water after falling behind 53-34 midway through the second half. Barnes drained a 3-pointer and Marshall added two more to fuel a decisive 22-2 spurt that brought their team back and the largely pro-Tar Heel crowd back to its feet.

The loss was a devastating one for the No. 9 seed Hurricanes, who had pulled off a similar rally in beating Virginia the previous day. Junior guard Malcolm Grant had a team-high 16 points for the 'Canes, who fell to 19-14 as they await a possible NIT bid.

Miami didn’t help its cause with several costly missed free throws and turnovers down the stretch. Grant, the ACC’s top free-throw shooter at better than 87 percent, missed two within the game’s final few minutes.

North Carolina was sloppy from the outset, repeatedly turning the ball over against Miami’s zone pressure. The Tar Heels totaled 15 of their 20 turnovers in the first half, prompting irate coach Roy Williams to call a timeout at the 10:38 mark and replace his entire starting five for nearly two minutes.