It had all the makings of a big night.
A top 15 opponent. A sold-out student section and a raucous crowd. A halftime celebration honoring their fellow Hurricanes’ postseason run to the College Football Playoff Championship and most importantly, a hungry team looking for a signature win of its own.
No wonder the atmosphere was electric Tuesday when Miami’s men’s basketball team took the floor at the Watsco Center for a matchup against No. 11 North Carolina.
And the Hurricanes, in every way possible, capitalized on that environment.
They led from start to finish, withstood every Tar Heels rally that came their way, outrebounded North Carolina, protected the ball and ultimately, earned a 75-66 win that marked their first victory over a ranked opponent under first-year head coach Jai Lucas.
No wonder Miami fans stormed the court to celebrate with the Hurricanes once the clock hit zero.
“I just want to thank the fans for showing up, especially the students. I thought the student section was electric. This is what I envision this building being, and what we have to make it moving forward,” Lucas said. “I was glad everyone came out and saw the team. They compete. They play hard. They’re an exciting team. They’re fun to come and watch. I think everybody got to see that tonight. … Our guys battled. They did a really good job.”
The numbers from Tuesday reinforced the coach’s sentiments.
Both Malik Reneau and Ernest Udeh Jr. notched double-doubles for Miami, with Reneau totaling a game-high 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals and Udeh notching 15 points and 10 boards. Two more Hurricanes – Tre Donaldson and Shelton Henderson – also finished in double figures, with 14 points and 12 points, respectively.
Miami outshot the Tar Heels 47 percent to 40 percent, and outrebounded North Carolina, 41-35. The Hurricanes committed only eight turnovers, and the Tar Heels (19-5, 7-4 ACC) managed just seven points off those few miscues. And Miami also outscored North Carolina 46-28 in the paint.
Additionally, the Hurricanes held North Carolina’s leading scorer, Caleb Wilson, who came into the game leading the Tar Heels in scoring (20.2 ppg), rebounding (9.6 rpg) and field goal percentage (.585) to just 12 points and six rebounds.
All of that, Lucas noted, made a difference and showed the kind of progress the Hurricanes (19-5, 8-3) have made after tough conference losses to Clemson, Florida State and Cal in recent weeks.
“I told them before the game that the game was going to be won on the glass and taking care of the ball, and we really took care of the ball today. That was kind of the separator, and it’s kind of the thing I was saying all weekend, and [have] been saying to the team, that everything that has gone bad for us has been self-inflicted,” Lucas said. “It hasn’t been one team that I sit there and watch, except for maybe the Clemson game, where I said, ‘Alright, maybe it’s something else.’ But Cal, turnovers. Florida State, turnovers. Boston College, Syracuse, even the [games] we’ve won, the turnovers hurt us, where they should have been 12, 15-point wins and they ended up being six [point wins]. But we took care of the ball [against North Carolina]. We competed on the glass and we kept battling.”
Said Udeh, “If we do the right thing, [it’s] the result that occurred today. Just getting a win [is the] most important thing for us and for this whole entire program, just doing everything that we’re supposed to do, that coach brought us here to do in order for us to get wins night in and night out. I think for me, and obviously Malik, that’s just really the most important thing.”
But as proud as they were of their performance on Tuesday, the Hurricanes know they can’t be satisfied. There are still crucial conference games against NC State, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Boston College, SMU and Louisville remaining on the schedule before they shift their focus to the ACC Tournament.
And if they want to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, they’ll need to stack more big plays, more consistent performances and more wins over conference opponents.
The hope now is that they can use the win over North Carolina as a springboard of sorts, Lucas said.
“It feels like – and hopefully the guys feel like – they got over a hump a little bit, a quality win … but like I was saying, we have six more quad one games on the schedule, so it’s not like the schedule gets any easier,” Lucas said. “We’ve got to go to North Carolina State next, who’s coming off a big loss, so they’re going to be breathing fire. We have to enjoy this now for 24 hours, and then when we get back in here Thursday, we’ve got to get ready to turn the page and get ready for North Carolina State.”
The Wolfpack (18-7, 9-3) saw a six-game win streak come to an end Monday after a tough 118-77 loss to No. 24 Louisville and there’s no doubt they’ll be looking to bounce back when Miami travels to Raleigh on Saturday afternoon.
But if the Hurricanes can find ways to build off their performance Tuesday night, Udeh said he’s confident the Hurricanes have the potential to not only handle a tough road environment on Saturday, but to finish the regular season on a good note and make some noise in March, too.
“Honestly, for the entire season leading up until this point, you look at our losses, you look at our wins and coach preaches it to us day in and day out: it’s us,” Udeh said. “Our mistakes, teams are going to capitalize on them. … I feel this way: a team has never truly just beaten us, you know what I mean? We beat ourselves when we put ourselves in certain positions. The most important thing for us is just whether we win or lose, go into practice the next day, watch the film, talk over it and do better next time. We know who we are. We know who we are.”
A top 15 opponent. A sold-out student section and a raucous crowd. A halftime celebration honoring their fellow Hurricanes’ postseason run to the College Football Playoff Championship and most importantly, a hungry team looking for a signature win of its own.
No wonder the atmosphere was electric Tuesday when Miami’s men’s basketball team took the floor at the Watsco Center for a matchup against No. 11 North Carolina.
And the Hurricanes, in every way possible, capitalized on that environment.
They led from start to finish, withstood every Tar Heels rally that came their way, outrebounded North Carolina, protected the ball and ultimately, earned a 75-66 win that marked their first victory over a ranked opponent under first-year head coach Jai Lucas.
No wonder Miami fans stormed the court to celebrate with the Hurricanes once the clock hit zero.
“I just want to thank the fans for showing up, especially the students. I thought the student section was electric. This is what I envision this building being, and what we have to make it moving forward,” Lucas said. “I was glad everyone came out and saw the team. They compete. They play hard. They’re an exciting team. They’re fun to come and watch. I think everybody got to see that tonight. … Our guys battled. They did a really good job.”
The numbers from Tuesday reinforced the coach’s sentiments.
Both Malik Reneau and Ernest Udeh Jr. notched double-doubles for Miami, with Reneau totaling a game-high 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals and Udeh notching 15 points and 10 boards. Two more Hurricanes – Tre Donaldson and Shelton Henderson – also finished in double figures, with 14 points and 12 points, respectively.
Miami outshot the Tar Heels 47 percent to 40 percent, and outrebounded North Carolina, 41-35. The Hurricanes committed only eight turnovers, and the Tar Heels (19-5, 7-4 ACC) managed just seven points off those few miscues. And Miami also outscored North Carolina 46-28 in the paint.
Additionally, the Hurricanes held North Carolina’s leading scorer, Caleb Wilson, who came into the game leading the Tar Heels in scoring (20.2 ppg), rebounding (9.6 rpg) and field goal percentage (.585) to just 12 points and six rebounds.
All of that, Lucas noted, made a difference and showed the kind of progress the Hurricanes (19-5, 8-3) have made after tough conference losses to Clemson, Florida State and Cal in recent weeks.
“I told them before the game that the game was going to be won on the glass and taking care of the ball, and we really took care of the ball today. That was kind of the separator, and it’s kind of the thing I was saying all weekend, and [have] been saying to the team, that everything that has gone bad for us has been self-inflicted,” Lucas said. “It hasn’t been one team that I sit there and watch, except for maybe the Clemson game, where I said, ‘Alright, maybe it’s something else.’ But Cal, turnovers. Florida State, turnovers. Boston College, Syracuse, even the [games] we’ve won, the turnovers hurt us, where they should have been 12, 15-point wins and they ended up being six [point wins]. But we took care of the ball [against North Carolina]. We competed on the glass and we kept battling.”
Said Udeh, “If we do the right thing, [it’s] the result that occurred today. Just getting a win [is the] most important thing for us and for this whole entire program, just doing everything that we’re supposed to do, that coach brought us here to do in order for us to get wins night in and night out. I think for me, and obviously Malik, that’s just really the most important thing.”
But as proud as they were of their performance on Tuesday, the Hurricanes know they can’t be satisfied. There are still crucial conference games against NC State, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Boston College, SMU and Louisville remaining on the schedule before they shift their focus to the ACC Tournament.
And if they want to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, they’ll need to stack more big plays, more consistent performances and more wins over conference opponents.
The hope now is that they can use the win over North Carolina as a springboard of sorts, Lucas said.
“It feels like – and hopefully the guys feel like – they got over a hump a little bit, a quality win … but like I was saying, we have six more quad one games on the schedule, so it’s not like the schedule gets any easier,” Lucas said. “We’ve got to go to North Carolina State next, who’s coming off a big loss, so they’re going to be breathing fire. We have to enjoy this now for 24 hours, and then when we get back in here Thursday, we’ve got to get ready to turn the page and get ready for North Carolina State.”
The Wolfpack (18-7, 9-3) saw a six-game win streak come to an end Monday after a tough 118-77 loss to No. 24 Louisville and there’s no doubt they’ll be looking to bounce back when Miami travels to Raleigh on Saturday afternoon.
But if the Hurricanes can find ways to build off their performance Tuesday night, Udeh said he’s confident the Hurricanes have the potential to not only handle a tough road environment on Saturday, but to finish the regular season on a good note and make some noise in March, too.
“Honestly, for the entire season leading up until this point, you look at our losses, you look at our wins and coach preaches it to us day in and day out: it’s us,” Udeh said. “Our mistakes, teams are going to capitalize on them. … I feel this way: a team has never truly just beaten us, you know what I mean? We beat ourselves when we put ourselves in certain positions. The most important thing for us is just whether we win or lose, go into practice the next day, watch the film, talk over it and do better next time. We know who we are. We know who we are.”
