Disappointed Hurricanes settle for NIT
Much of the conversation regarding an upcoming NIT matchup often falls back on the disappointment a team feels because it didn't make the NCAA field.
Not surprisingly, it was that way at Miami, which at 19-12 overall and with wins over Duke and Florida State in a 9-7 ACC campaign had hoped to get into the 68-team national tourney.
But the loss to Florida State in the quarterfinals of the ACC tourney burst the bubble, especially with guard Durand Scott in NCAA limbo.
The Hurricanes did get a No. 2 seed in its bracket for the NIT, however, and will play Valparaiso in its first game on March 14 in Coral Gables.
"I'd say the disappointment is that our goal was to get to the NCAA Tournament," coach Jim Larranaga said at a less-than-enthusiastic press conference. "Five teams in the ACC made it, which we feel all are deserving.
"We tied with two of them for fourth place and were on the bubble to get in the NCAA Tournament. It appears to me we needed one more win somewhere along the way, either in the non-conference, in the regular-season conference race or in the tournament that would have gotten us over the hump and into the NCAA Tournament."
The Hurricanes will be facing a Valparaiso team that won the Horizon League regular-season title, but lost in the conference tournament to Detroit after beating Butler in its first game.
The Crusaders are 22-11 overall.
If the Hurricanes beat Valpo, they will play the winner of the La Salle-Minnesota game at a date to be determined.
As a No. 2 seed, the Hurricanes could play their first three games at home if the No. 1 seed in their bracket, Tennessee, should lose in either the first or second round. The semifinals of the 32-team field are in New York on March 27.
NOTES, QUOTES
-The berth in the NIT means Miami has played in the postseason in 13 of the last 18 years and six times in the last eight. The Hurricanes reached the quarterfinals of the NIT in 2006 and 2011 and reached the second round in 2009 and way back in 1963. Their other appearances were in 1961, 1964, 1995, 1997, 2001, and 2005.
-Miami and Valparaiso have played once, with the Crusaders winning 81-76 in the 1956-57 season.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
-Miami isn't the same team if junior G Durand Scott isn't cleared to play against Valparaiso. He was declared ineligible for the quarterfinal game of the ACC tourney when it was discovered he had received impermissible benefits under NCAA rules. He adds a toughness and ballhandling to a team that can go big with 6-10 Reggie Johnson and 6-11 Kenny Kadji or small with 6-5 Trey McKinney-Jones and 6-6 Rion Brown adding quickness.
-Reggie Johnson tested the NBA waters after last season and came back for his junior year. The knee injury he sustained in the summer delayed his season debut until Dec. 17, but it may give him cause to consider returning for his senior year rather than risk a shot at the NBA.
-The Hurricanes were without key players throughout the season, going 5-4 while waiting on C Reggie Johnson to return from a foot injury and missing senior F DeQuan Jones for 10 games. G Garrius Adams missed time with a knee injury, and Johnson and Durand Scott both had to sit out games because of eligibility issues. The 'Canes still managed to go 9-7 in the ACC, their best conference record since joining the league in the 2004-05 season.
-Senior G Malcolm Grant was expected to miss one day of practice for the NIT while nursing a foot injury that isn't considered serious.
-Junior G Durand Scott, who is awaiting word on his appeal to the NCAA to have his eligibility restored, scored 58 points to lead Miami in scoring in three NIT games last year.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Very disappointed. Sometimes things happen. It would have been a blessing to go to the NCAA, but we weren't fortunate enough. I'm just happy to have a few more games left in the postseason in the NIT." -- Senior G Malcolm Grant, on not making the NCAA field.