UM basketball team determined to have fun, end skid Wednesday against Georgia Tech
.JPG "Miami’s Charlie Moore (3) right, celebrates with Anthony Walker (1) left, and Sam Waardenburg (21) after making the winning shot at the buzzer to end second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Virginia Tech, Wednesday, Jan. 26 2022, in Blacksburg Va. (Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times via AP)")
The Miami Hurricanes lost back-to-back games for the first time all season last week, but rather than punish the players with a grueling practice on Monday, coach Jim Larranaga and his staff ended the training session with a game of indoor baseball using a beach ball.
The players said it was exactly what they needed heading into Wednesday’s critical home game against Georgia Tech (7 p.m., Bally Sports Sun).
“The whole message was it’s a game and you’re meant to have fun,” said forward Sam Waardenburg. “That’s something we have to carry over to the basketball, as well. When we were playing at our best level it was a fun environment, everyone was up, lots of energy and enjoyment. It’s not like we haven’t been doing that the past few games, but we can take it to another level and bring that environment back to the locker room.”
Guard Kam McGusty agreed: “Coach L’s biggest message was you can’t play good without having fun. A lot of coaches if you lose two games you’re in the film room, practicing an extra hour, getting cussed out. Coach L saw that as an opportunity to freshen up our mental side. We had some fun and that was very good for us.”
Following a 68-64 home loss to Notre Dame last Wednesday night the Hurricanes lost at Virginia, 71-58 on Saturday.
“Those are two tough losses, ones you wish you could go back and play again, but we’ve got to keep moving forward,” Waardenburg said. “We’re in a good place. We’ve got veterans and we’ll figure this out.”
The last time the Hurricanes (16-7, 8-4 ACC) played the Yellow Jackets (10-12, 3-8) on the road 12 days ago, Miami won, 73-62. McGusty was the leading scorer with 21 points.
Once again, they will have to figure out a way to contain senior guard Michael Devoe, the ACC’s third-leading scorer at 18.6 points per game.
“Michael Devoe is, to me, one of the four or best guards at creating opportunities for himself,” Larranaga said. “He can create threes. He has the best change of speed and direction in the league. He can go from fast to slow to fast, from right to left, spin, great shot fakes, great mid-range game, he’s terrific at moving without the ball. He is a complete handful for whoever is guarding him.”
The Hurricanes are hoping for a big home crowd, like they had against Notre Dame and Florida State.
In each of the last two games, Miami has set a student attendance record. First, 1,682 students came to the sold-out game against Florida State on Jan. 22. Then, 1,986 students turned out last Wednesday when the Hurricanes played Notre Dame.
“It’s been fantastic to have the students showing that kind of support for our team,” Larranaga said. “We want to create a home court atmosphere here like so many other ACC schools have. We really had it going several years ago with sellout crowds and hopefully we can get back to that now that COVID is starting to die down. And if we can keep it rolling into next year, we’ll be heading into the right direction.”