UM hits 20 wins, but falls short of AP Top 25 ahead of game vs. Virginia Tech
Coach Jai Lucas and his University of Miami men’s basketball team are getting more national attention after hitting the 20-win mark over the weekend with a dramatic road victory against North Carolina State, just four days after knocking off 11th-ranked North Carolina.
But it was not enough for the Hurricanes to break into the AP Top 25 on Monday. Miami (20-5, 9-3 ACC) fell six spots short of the rankings in the Also Receiving Votes list.
Lucas shrugged off the importance of the rankings as the team prepared for a home game Tuesday against Virginia Tech.
“It’s a tip of the cap, but we have to keep chipping away,” Lucas said. “We’ve got a lot of games and a lot of basketball left ahead of us.”
He also downplayed the fact that at 37 years old and in his debut season at Miami, Lucas became the fastest first-time head coach in the ACC to reach 20 wins since Bill Guthridge at UNC in 1997-98. He is also on pace to surpass Jim Larranaga for best first season as a Hurricanes coach.
Larranaga went 20-13 in 2011-12 and the Canes made it to the NIT that postseason. With six games remaining in the regular season, Miami is 20-5 under Lucas and in position to be an NCAA Tournament team. The Canes are in fourth place in the ACC standings, behind Duke, Virginia and Clemson.
“I really haven’t thought about it, to be honest,” he said. “Did I say I expected to win 20? Yes, I did. That’s why you come to this place, because it gives you the opportunity to win and compete for championships. But just because I say it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, so I am grateful to everybody who’s been involved to get us to this point.
“But we want more. We want to be as good as we can be and see what comes with that coming down the stretch.”
More than rankings or accolades, Lucas said he takes most pride in the fact that his team has not deviated from its identity, which comes down to physicality, dominating points in the paint and offensive rebounding, and getting to the free-throw line more often than their opponents (which makes up for their less-than-ideal 67 percent free throw shooting percentage).
UM outscored NC State 56-32 in the paint and outscored UNC 46-28 in the paint. The Canes got to the free-throw line 20 times against the Wolfpack and 23 times against the Tar Heels. They also outrebounded both opponents and had just nine turnovers against NC State and eight against UNC.
Lucas makes no apologies for his team’s struggles from three-point range. Miami went 3 of 17 from beyond the arc against NC State and 3-of-13 against North Carolina. Nor is he overly concerned that his team ranks 15th in the conference in free-throw percentage, although the staff is working hard to correct that deficiency.
But, so long as they get to the line at a high clip, they get their opponents in foul trouble and can still make enough free throws to win most games. Miami leads the ACC with 588 free-throw attempts. Tru Washington hit three free throws in a row in the final seconds to seal the win over NC State on Saturday.
“That’s just the way our team is built, with size and physicality,” he explained. “When you do it that way, you lose some stuff. It doesn’t mean you can’t be good. You shoot 50% from the free-throw line and only make three threes and still win the game. So, it shows there are other ways to be good. You just have to buy into doing it.”
Eager to establish a team identity heading into his first season with an entirely new roster, Lucas and his staff came up with a creative, and unusual, idea: award a replica of the scary Jason mask from the Friday the 13th horror flicks to the player of the game.
“We knew aesthetically we’re not the prettiest team to watch, there’s not going to be some flashy offense,” Lucas said earlier in the season. “We’re this big, physical monster. We don’t know exactly what we are, who we are, but we know what we’re about. Like in the movie, the first time he finds the mask and puts it on, he says, `This is what I am’ and he accepts it. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’ve got to accept who we are. We’re big. We’re going to rebound and crash. We’re going to attack the paint, and we’re going to guard you.”
The Hurricanes lead the ACC with a 50.8 field-goal percentage. They rank fourth in scoring at 83.6 points per game, third in offensive rebounds (12.4 per game), and fifth in defense with 70.1 points allowed per game.
Lucas expects another tough game on Tuesday against the Hokies (17-9, 6-7 ACC), who are coming off a 92-69 loss to Florida State.
“Virginia Tech lost three games on buzzer beaters,” Lucas said. “They should be a nine- or 10-win team in the conference. They have a really good coach who’s won everywhere he’s been. So, they’re really good… I expect them to be desperate. They had just won at Clemson before the Florida State game. It should be another ACC war.”
Tuesday’s game tips off at 8 p.m. and can be seen on ACC Network.