CHARLOTTE — Miami and No. 24-ranked Louisville will meet for the second time in six days on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
The third-seeded Hurricanes (24-7) tied the school record for most victories in a regular season. But they will look to wipe away the taste of a 92-89 loss to Louisville on Saturday to end the regular season.
“(There’s a) level of urgency from here on out that you have to play with and you have to have,” first-year Miami coach Jai Lucas said.
Louisville (23-9), the tournament’s sixth seed, reached the quarterfinals by overcoming No. 11 seed SMU 62-58 on Wednesday.
The Cardinals remain without injured freshman standout Mikel Brown Jr. (back) for the tournament.
“It changes their whole dynamic a little bit,” Lucas said. “So you have to adjust and adapt to that, but still, the team is well built.”
The Cardinals can cope with a reduction in personnel because there’s an experience level that might benefit them.
“We’ve got a bunch of vets,” coach Pat Kelsey said. “We’ve got one of the oldest, most mature teams in the country, and they’ve been through so many situations throughout the course of their career. They’ve logged so many minutes. They’ve played in big games.”
Louisville’s tussle with SMU brought satisfaction for Kelsey. The Cardinals shot 39.6% from the field in the victory.
“On a night we didn’t shoot it our best, we just figured out a way to win,” Kelsey said. “What do they say, in tournament play — survive and advance. I think that applied.”
Late baskets from Ryan Conwell gave the Cardinals a boost against SMU. He is averaging a team-high 18.6 points per game this season.
“Just having the utmost confidence in him,” teammate Adrian Wooley said. “Him being a senior, leader on the team, whatever he (does) is fine with me, as long as we are sticking to what we work on. He works on those shots each and every day, so I trust him with whatever he does.”
Miami also has learned how to look ahead to the next task. As it turns out, the Hurricanes will have back-to-back games vs. Louisville — but last weekend’s result is in the past.
“Then just ready to turn the page,” Lucas said. “You don’t want to lose, but we got a lot of good film that we can use.”
For Lucas, it will be important that the Hurricanes learn to play through the ebbs and flows of a game. There were plenty of twists when the teams met Saturday, and there could be more to come in the tournament.
“We have different styles, styles make fights, so in the first half, their style kind of got the best,” Lucas said. “And in the second half, and toward the end of the game, we started to show what we’re about.”
All-ACC first-team member Malik Reneau, who averages 19.1 points per game, and second team member Tre Donaldson often spark the Hurricanes.
It’s time for the Hurricanes to build on what they’ve accomplished so far.
“To finish in the top three of the ACC to get a double bye with a league that’s getting eight, nine, 10 teams in the (NCAA) tournament, hopefully. is impressive,” Lucas said.
–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
