Skidding Miami tries to rekindle March magic against Boston College

Field Level Media|published: Mon 11th March, 19:08 2024

Mar 6, 2024; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes forward Norchad Omier (15) drives to the basket past Boston College Eagles guard Jaeden Zackery (3) during the second half at Watsco Center. credits: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Last season, losing in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals didn't keep Miami from authoring a storybook March.

The Hurricanes' strong regular season earned them an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the team engineered an electrifying run to the Final Four.

But amid a down year, Miami has no margin for error entering this season's ACC tournament, where the 14th-seeded Hurricanes (15-16) face 11th-seeded Boston College (17-14) in the first round on Tuesday in Washington.

Winning the conference tournament is likely Miami's only path to the national bracket. The Hurricanes have the experience to make a deep run — forward Norchad Omier (team-high 17.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game) along with guards Wooga Poplar (13.4 points) and Nijel Pack (13.1 points) were all starters on last year's Final Four team.

But winning even one game proves challenging. Miami has lost nine straight entering Tuesday.

"It's unfortunate for these guys to have gone through this," Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga said after a 67-57 loss to Boston College on Wednesday. "Maybe in their life there will be a lot more challenges and adversity, but right now, for a college basketball player to lose as many as we have in a row, (it's) very challenging and frustrating and disappointing."

It hasn't helped that Pack has missed five of Miami's last six games with a lower-body injury. Pack didn't play in the Hurricanes' 83-75 loss at Florida State in Saturday's regular-season finale. No update on his status has been given as of Monday.

Boston College's win over Miami last Wednesday snapped a four-game losing streak and secured the Eagles' two-game regular-season sweep of the Hurricanes.

Coach Earl Grant's squad added a 67-61 victory at Louisville on Saturday to close their winningest season in six years.

"We've been hardened," Grant said. "... We played against some teams that beat us up ... I thought those games — we learned from that adversity. Our character and our perseverance grew through the adversity."

Quinten Post anchors Boston College with 16.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. The 7-foot forward tallied 42 points and 15 rebounds in two games against Miami this season.

"He's an NBA guy," Larranaga said of Post.

Tuesday's winner will face sixth-seeded Clemson in the second round on Wednesday.

—Field Level Media