No. 2 Duke routs Miami with potential future Hurricanes coach on its bench

There was a buzz at Watsco Center Tuesday night for the first time this men’s basketball season.

Parking lots were packed, and minutes after tip-off, hundreds of fans were still in line outside the arena waiting to get inside.

Duke was the big draw, and as an added attraction, the No. 2 team in the nation arrived with its associate coach, Jai Lucas, as the leading candidate to become Miami’s next head coach.

While the outcome was what you probably expected — Duke dazzled in a 97-60 rout of Miami, winning by more than 30 points for the fourth time in five games — the circumstances were certainly odd.

On Saturday, multiple well-placed UM sources told the Miami Herald that Lucas, the 36-year-old son of former NBA coach John Lucas, is expected to be hired to replace Jim Larranaga, who retired in December, and the timing of his departure from Duke was being negotiated.

Interim coach Bill Courtney said he didn’t address the situation with Hurricanes players, but noted after the game that, “I’m sure the guys, especially the younger guys, may have thought about it.

“It’s almost impossible not to hear the noise,” Courtney said. “But when you’re coaching guys, you want them to try to block out as much noise as possible because there’s always going to be some noise. And you try to do your best to stay focused through all the stuff.”

Jahil Bethea, UM’s second-leading scorer Tuesday with 13 points, said, “Honestly, I don’t really look at that type of stuff. I was just focused on hooping.”

Asked about a sequence where he appeared to look directly at Lucas after making a 3-pointer from near Duke’s bench, Bethea said, “I guess that was a coincidence. He was just the closest person next to me.”

Fellow freshman guard Divine Ugochukwu, who grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds Tuesday, said of the speculation surrounding Lucas: “Rumors are rumors, and I’ll just leave it at that.”

Asked what UM fans can expect from Lucas should he be hired, Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, “Jai is a special coach. We’ve been through a lot together for three years. He’s everything you could want. Attention to detail. Great with relationships. Great on the floor. He’s a great coach. Bottom line.”

For now, Lucas is part of a team with serious national championship aspirations. Three days after thumping Illinois by 43 points, the Blue Devils were every bit as impressive against the ‘Canes. They shot 56 percent from the field for the game and 60 percent (15-of-25) from 3-point range. Four players scored in double figures, led by Kon Knueppel, who had 20 points. Isaiah Evans had 16 points and national player of the year candidate Cooper Flagg had 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. He scored or assisted on Duke’s first 10 points of the game.

The Blue Devils raced out to a 15-2 lead in opening six minutes and then burst out of the break with a 24-6 run after the ‘Canes closed the first half with a 7-1 spurt in the final minute to cut the deficit to 47-32.

“They’ve got guys that are going to be playing in the NBA for a long time, right? So they just start playing a little better, and if you can’t keep up scoring with them or be like Clemson and grind them out, it’s going to be really difficult to beat them,” Courtney said.

It didn’t help that starting guard Matthew Cleveland, Miami’s leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, sat out for the second game in a row because of an injured left ankle.

Center Lynn Kidd scored 17 points to lead the ‘Canes, who were sent staggering in the opening minutes. The Blue Devils made 11 of their first 14 field goals, including six of seven from 3-point range.

Eventually, the rout was on, much like the ‘Canes’ 89-54 loss in Durham, N.C. on Jan. 14. The Blue Devils have lost just once since Thanksgiving, but Scheyer said his team won’t become comfortable with its success.

“Our mission is bigger, so it is easy [to be critical],” he said. “You have to have great humility in this. It’s delicate. It can change really quickly. I love the killer instinct that our team has had. I love the approach to each game. They haven’t big-timed anything. But we know what’s ahead. We know the battles we’re going to be in, and we know what can happen every night.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 10:40 PM.