The Miami Hurricanes target a signature win against 11th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, needing flawless execution to finally "stamp the season."
The Miami Hurricanes men's basketball squad will host arguably their biggest opponent in ACC play: the North Carolina Tar Heels, who ranked 11th in the latest AP polls. Despite coach Jai Lucas leading the program to regular-season success, a standout victory is missing from their resume. A win over the Tar Heels would fix that and "stamp the season."
"Although we have a lot of people who played in a lot of games, we're a new team," Lucas said. "These moments that we've been in are a little bit different. Now, we've been in tight games, won tight games, we know what it means to execute down the stretch."
The Hurricanes have faced three ranked opponents leading up to this game: the Florida Gators, BYU Cougars, and Clemson Tigers, but lost each matchup by an average of 11.3 points. Turnovers were a key issue in those games. The Hurricanes committed at least 10 in each, which resulted in 45 total points off them.
Ball control should be a top priority as the Tar Heels average 12.3 points off turnovers for the overall season, 13 in ACC play.
Lucas believes the Hurricanes' growth will help them prevail.
"We've played top-10 teams," he added. "We played Florida, BYU, and Clemson on the road. We have all this data and experience that should help you in February, closing down the stretch going into March. This is our next test to be able to show it and see where we are."
"It's time for us to put a stamp on the season."
The Hurricanes will need excellent production from every player that walks on the court, especially senior guard Tre Donaldson and senior forward Malik Reneau. Both are the leaders of the program and have provided consistent production throughout the regular season.
Freshman forward Caleb Wilson is the head of the snake for the Tar Heels. He's averaging 20.2 points on 58.5 percent shooting, 9.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 steals in 31.6 minutes. Despite being a projected lottery selection in the upcoming NBA draft, his biggest flaw is three-point shooting, 26.9 percent on the season.
As Lucas is a defensive-minded head coach, it's assumed that forcing Wilson to take more outside shots would be the preferred option.
The Hurricanes will have reinforcements as junior guard Tru Washington, who missed the last couple of games due to personal reasons, is listed as probable for the game, according to the ACC student-athlete availability report.
Both programs are 7-3 in ACC play, which makes this matchup extra valuable. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.
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