It’s been a while since UM won 20 games. Canes can reach mark Saturday vs. Virginia
Every college basketball victory in February is important with post-season tournaments a few weeks away, but a home win over Virginia on Saturday would take on extra significance for the Miami Hurricanes because it would be win No. 20.
It has been a while since Miami hit that milestone. Four years to be exact.
The Canes have not won more than 15 games since 2017-18. They are 19-7 so far this season.
“(Winning 20 games) means your team has enjoyed a fair amount of success and should feel very good about themselves,” said UM coach Jim Larranaga. “There’s more games after you hit 20, but if you hit that 20-game win benchmark, I think it means an awful lot, especially if it’s accomplished in the regular season. That means you’ve won 65 or 66 percent of your games and I think any coach would tell you that’s a heck of a winning percentage.”
UM enjoyed 20-win seasons in six of Larranaga’s first seven years at UM, including a 29-7 record in 2012-13 and 27-8 in 2015-16, the two seasons they made the Sweet 16.
Then came the three-year dip. There was an FBI probe into recruiting that UM was tangentially mentioned in, but nothing came of it and the school’s name was redacted from the indictment. Although UM was cleared, it hurt two recruiting cycles.
The team was also plagued by injuries and many nights Larranaga had just six or seven healthy scholarship players.
This season, the UM locker room is a happy place again. Guard Isaiah Wong said there is positive energy and lots of joking around, including teammates making fun of the fact that he puts ketchup on his raisin bagel egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.
Miami is one of the biggest ACC surprises this season. Predicted to finish 12th in the preseason conference poll, Miami now sits in third place with an 11-4 league record. Two of Miami’s ACC losses were by one point to Florida State. The other two were to second-place Notre Dame and 71-58 on the road against Virginia.
The Cavaliers shot 60 percent in that game, had 23 assists, and made 8-of-15 from long range. Miami did not get to the free throw line at all that night, while Virginia was 3-of-3 from the stripe.
UM players are eager to show they can do better on Saturday at the Watsco Center (5 p.m., ACC Network).
“That pack defense that (coach) Tony Bennett established when he first got to Virginia is an outstanding defense they have perfected,” said Larranaga, who was an assistant at Virginia early in his career. “They make it very, very difficult on our offense to get good shots and they’re very good at limiting the number of possessions in the game. In addition to that, for whatever reason, they never get called for fouls. And they foul a lot.”
The undersized Canes also are at a disadvantage against Virginia, whose roster includes 246-pound Jayden Gardner, 7-1 and 242-pound Francisco Caffaro and 6-11 and 231-pound Kadin Shedrick.
“They have three humongous guys who take up a lot of space around the basket, are very physical, and do a lot of holding to hold their position inside and they get away with that,” Larranaga said. “I don’t know how they do it. It’s like magical and makes it a hard team to guard.”
Miami is led by Kameron McGusty, who averages 17.6 points, Wong with 15.8 points per game, and Charlie Moore with 12.4 points and four assists per game.
Jordan Miller leads UM with 5.8 rebounds a game. He said a 20th win would be “a token” for their hard work, but their sights are set on bigger things.
“Coach L likes to use the expression that the season is a marathon not sprint, so as nice as it would be to get the 20th win, I think we’re focused on the bigger goal, making the NCAA tournament and winning the national title. But 20 wins would be a nice reward along the way.”