UM coach Bill Courtney after team snapped 10-game losing streak: `It gives you hope’
A locker room full of jubilant University of Miami basketball players sprayed water all over each other and doused a smiling coach Bill Courtney on Saturday night after the team finally snapped a 10-game losing streak to beat Notre Dame for their first ACC win of the season.
The images spoke volumes about the suffering the Hurricanes (5-17 overall, 1-10 ACC) have gone through this season. Miami had lost 20 conference games in a row dating to last season. The win over Notre Dame was the team’s first in 10 games under interim coach Courtney, who took over when Jim Larranaga unexpectedly retired the day after Christmas.
It was just one win, but the Hurricanes made sure to celebrate the occasion.
“It gives you hope,” Courtney said Monday morning. “We’ve adopted the mentality of one game at a time, one day at a time, so I think winning a game gives you hope. It gives some credence to what you’ve been preaching, and hopefully we’ll be able to build on this.”
There had been signs the previous few games that things were turning around for the Canes. An overtime road loss at Cal was followed by a hard-fought loss against Virginia.
Courtney shared that “there were some things we had to discuss and get out in the open” after blowout losses to SMU (117-74) and Stanford (88-51). Lynn Kidd was benched the next game at Cal, and Matt Cleveland came off the bench rather than start.
Courtney stressed that the whole team needed an attitude shift after the two blowouts, and the players responded to the challenge.
“We were building toward something,” Courtney said. “The most difficult part of that is staying the course when you haven’t had success. But our guys did. They stayed the course and were able to pull out a win Saturday.”
He added that at times it was tough to keep the players optimistic.
“When you’re between 18 and 22 years old, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you’re struggling,” Courtney said. “It’s very, very dark in that tunnel, and we were trying to preach to stay the course, remain steadfast and keep working.”
Cleveland is playing the best basketball of his career of late. He is averaging 26.4 points over the past five games and has scored 20-plus points nine times this season.
Nijel Pack remains out with an unspecified foot injury and there is no timetable for his return, Courtney said. Pack has missed the past 12 games.
The Hurricanes’ next game is on the road on Saturday at Louisville (2 p.m., ESPN2).