Jai Lucas demands urgency from his team after UM loses 65-63 at home to FSU
University of Miami fans, still stinging after a dramatic loss to Indiana in the national championship football game, turned their attention to the men’s basketball team on Tuesday night.
They had their hearts broken again.
A Watsco Center crowd of 5,664 watched as the Hurricanes lost 65-63 to rival Florida State, which proved to be a much tougher opponent than its record suggested.
Miami trailed for the entire second half. A trio of threes and clutch free throw shooting by freshman Shelton Henderson kept the Canes in striking distance. The Hurricanes were down by one with under a minute to go.
Just like the UM vs. Indiana football game, this one went down to the wire.
Malik Reneau made one of two free throws to tie it up 63-63, but Tre Donaldson fouled Rob McCray with 1.7 seconds remaining and McCray hit them both to seal the victory. McCray scored a game-high 20 points.
It was Miami’s second loss in a row after a 10-game win streak and a 4-0 ACC start in ACC play that had the team on the verge of the Top 25. With Tuesday’s loss, the Hurricanes dropped to 15-4 and 4-2 in the conference.
A dejected UM coach Jai Lucas expressed frustration with his team’s lack of urgency.
“[FSU’s] desperation and belief were there, and I didn’t think we matched it,” Lucas said. “That’s the one thing that’s got me messed up right now. I’ve got to get the team back to where we have been. We had a little bit of a run going, and now we’re in a little funk and we have to get out of it.
“We looked gun shy, like we were second guessing and hesitant, and that’s not who we are.”
Miami prided itself on its physicality, defense, and dominance in the paint this season. But the Canes were not as aggressive versus the Seminoles and paid the price.
“We can do whatever we want on offense, but if we don’t go down there and get some stops, the game’s not going to end in our favor,” Henderson said. “We’ve got to get back to our identity and being more desperate.”
Tre Donaldson, the ACC Player of the Week two weeks ago, was eager to rebound after an off-night in a 10-point loss to Clemson last weekend.
Tuesday’s game was particularly special for Donaldson, who grew up in Tallahassee, was a two-sport high school star (football, basketball) at Florida State University School and has strong ties to that community.
But he finished with 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting and missed all seven of his shots in the second half. He dished out five assists and finished with four personal fouls. Henderson led the Hurricanes with 18 points and had eight rebounds. Reneau scored 16 and Ernest Udeh, Jr., had 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Seminoles got their first ACC win since the departure of longtime coach Leonard Hamilton. Rookie FSU coach Luke Loucks, 35, said he was proud of his team’s resolve through the rough times.
Florida State improved to 8-11 and 1-5 in the ACC.
“I’m really proud of my locker room, the way this season has gone has been challenging, to say the least,” Loucks said. “As a first-time head coach, trying to rebuild a program for one of my mentors that had so much success here, we’ve had ups and downs. But the coaching staff and players stayed together and finally we got the result we wanted.”
The UM program’s past and present were on display throughout the night.
The evening began with a tribute to beloved retired legendary coach Jim Larranaga, who led Miami to its first Elite Eight and Final Four. A banner in his honor was raised to the arena rafters. There was also a moment of silence in memory of former UM coach Bill Courtney, who took over for Larranaga last season and was his closest friend. He died at age 55 last week.
Coach L, as he is affectionately known, took the microphone at halftime and reminisced from midcourt as Lucas was in the locker room trying to rally his team, which trailed by one point after a buzzer-beating three-pointer by FSU’s Kobe Magee.
“All the experts said I was too old to coach in the ACC, I was 62 when I got the job here, and you know what I told the media? `I’m just getting started!’” Larranaga said, as the crowd roared. “That banner represents a heck of a lot of hard work from so many people in our program, coaches, players, and fans who took us to the Final Four in 2023.”
The program took a big dip after the Final Four and the Hurricanes finished in last place in the ACC in 2025 after Larranaga retired mid-season. Lucas, the 37-year-old former Duke assistant, brought in an entirely new roster and staff and the upstart Hurricanes have exceeded expectations.
The Hurricanes are on the road Jan. 24 at Syracuse and return home Jan. 28 for a 9 p.m. game against Stanford.
“We’ve got to move forward and focus on Syracuse,” Udeh, Jr., said. “The worst thing we can do is sit on this.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 10:46 PM.