LOUISVILLE -- Starting point guard Quentin Snider's return to the lineup was just in time to help No. 4 Louisville escape against Miami 71-66 at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday.

"Ninety to 95 percent of teams lose this game. They don't win this game," Louisville coach Pitino said of his team's win over the Hurricanes. "They totally outplayed us. They were the better basketball team tonight, but we showed incredible character to win this game. And I am real, real proud of this team."

Snider, who missed the last six games with a strained hip flexor, scored 11 second-half points and had three crucial 3-pointers for the Cardinals (20-5, 8-4 ACC) in the dramatic comeback win.

"It always seems like when guys are out for injuries they play against us," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "It happened with (Duke big man) Amile Jefferson and now Snider."

Louisville's Deng Adel and Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 18 points apiece. Miami's Ja'Quan Newton had 15 points.

The Cardinals trailed by nine points in the second half and were down 53-48 with 7:24 left, but reeled off a 13-0 run to take a 61-53 lead with just under four minutes left.

Miami (16-8, 6-6) tied the score at 61-61 with 1:53 left, but Louisville got two big plays from Snider to ice the game. He hit a pair of free throws from with 1:35 left and buried a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to put Louisville up 66-61.

"I thought that was a really terrific college basketball game," Larranaga said. "I thought our guys played hard and well for a very long stretch. I thought Louisville, even though they fell behind early, really dug down deep and started the second half with three offensive rebounds for put-backs, which that was really a strength of ours, keeping people off the offensive glass.

"That got them back and then it see-sawed for a while, and then they finished a little stronger than we did."

It was a remarkable second-half comeback for the Cardinals. A dunk and free throw by Kamari Murphy put Miami ahead 44-35 with 14:29 left. The Cardinals got a tip-in by Mangok Mathiang and a 3 by Snider to cut Miami's lead to 44-40 by the 12-minute mark.

After a block by Mathiang gave Louisville the ball back, Snider hit another 3-pointer to bring the Cardinals within 44-43. But Miami answered Louisville's run with a quick 5-0 spurt.

Miami led 53-48 with just over seven minutes left before a layup by Jaylen Johnson and a 3-pointer by Mitchell tied the score at 53 with 6:12 left.

Louisville took its first lead of the game on a pair of free throws by Mathiang with 5:12 remaining. A rare four-point play -- Adel was fouled on a 3-pointer -- put the Cardinals ahead 59-53. A layup by Mitchell gave Louisville its largest lead at 61-53.

"Good defense, good rebounding, ball containment and very good offense," Pitino said. "And passing. I thought, even though Deng and Donovan played well, I thought Jaylen Johnson made the great, lunch-pail plays when we needed him."

The Cardinals' second-half run was drastically different than the first half. Louisville was down 22-8 early in the game.

Miami scored the first eight points and took its first double-digit lead at 19-8 with just over 11 minutes to go before halftime.

"If we play defense like we did today then we will get knocked out in the first round of the (NCAA) tournament," Pitino lamented.

After falling behind 22-8, the Cardinals reeled off a quick 8-0 run sparked by a 3-pointer from Mitchell. Louisville cut the deficit to 30-23 with 3:28 left, and the Hurricanes led 33-26 at the half. Adel led all scorers with 11 first-half points.

GAME NOTES: Midway through the first half, a fan sprinted onto the court and was tackled and arrested after he interfered with Miami's huddle. ... Official Brian O'Connell left the game with a pulled hamstring in the first half. He returned by the end of the first half. ... G Quentin Snider returned to Louisville's lineup after missing the last six games with a strained hp flexor. ... Louisville has won six of the last seven games in the series.