UM can clinch double-bye in ACC tournament with road win at Boston College Wednesday
The ACC season is a marathon, not a sprint. That is the message Miami Hurricanes basketball coach Jim Larrañaga has been drilling into his team all season.
Coming off a one-point home loss to Virginia Tech, the Canes face a critical road game Wednesday at Boston College (9 p.m., ACC Network). With a win, Miami clinches fourth place in the ACC standings and automatically qualifies for a double-bye in the ACC Tournament next week in Brooklyn, New York.
“With three miles to go, we stumbled a little,” Larrañaga said, referencing the marathon message and the loss to the Hokies. “Now, we’ve got to regroup in the last two miles.”
“We’d be one of the top-four seeds in the ACC Tournament, so, we couldn’t ask for anything more,” he said. “We’re out of the running for the regular season title now, so the best we can hope for—and our goal has to be—is to get one of those four byes.”
The 9 p.m. start is unusual, but Larrañaga does not expect to make many changes to the team’s usual gameday routine.
“The key with playing a late start is trying to keep your routine pretty much the same,” he said. “Your pregame meal four hours before. You do your shootaround the day of the game and be sure the guys are focused with high energy.”
Miami has had success on the road this season. The Hurricanes (20-9, 12-6 ACC) are 8-2 on the road and one of nine teams in the country with eight road wins and fewer than three road losses.
“When you look at the teams in our league, Duke and Miami are the only teams in the conference that have eight road victories. We’re both 8-2,” Larrañaga said. “We lost at Florida State, we lost at Virginia. But the loss at Florida State was by one point and the loss at Virginia, they really just played a great second half, like they did here.”
Boston College is 11-17 (6-12 ACC) but has won two of its past three games.
The Eagles are led by graduate student guard Makai Ashton-Langford’s 11.9 points and 3.4 assists per game.
“They play very, very hard at the defensive end of the floor. They have a seven-man rotation that I think is outstanding,” Larrañaga said. “And they’re big; they’ve got two big guys that are a factor. They both can score in around the basket. [James] Karnik can step outside. So, it’s going to be a major challenge and another great ACC game for us.”
After the game, UM flies directly to Syracuse, where the team faces the Orange at 1 p.m. Saturday in the regular-season finale.
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 7:10 PM.