Jai Lucas demands urgency as the Miami Hurricanes basketball falters. Defensive lapses and stagnant offense jeopardize March Madness hopes.
The Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team has hit a bump after a strong start to the season. In Tuesday night's loss against the Florida State Seminoles, they didn't live up to the expectations set by Jai Lucas. The team scored 36 paint points, but allowed 32, which isn't ideal from a defensive standpoint.
"We let the ball stick again for the second straight game," Lucas said. "We weren't flowing, getting to our second side, and getting to our afteractions. I didn't feel like we played with the urgency and desperation needed for this game."
"I [have] got to get the team back to where we have been."
Despite the continuous struggles from behind the arc and sloppy turnovers, the Hurricanes were still in a position to win with the resilience of freshman forward Shelton Henderson. However, a bad inbound pass by senior forward Malik Reneau sealed the loss, with a final score of 65-63.
Henderson led the Hurricanes with 18 points, two three-pointers made, two assists, and a steal in 36 minutes.
"I think everything just leads to the defensive end," the 19-year-old said. "We can do whatever we want on offense, but if we don't go down there and get some stops, the games are going to end not in our favor. We [have] to get back to our identity, guard the ball, and be more desperate."
Seminoles senior guard Robert McCray V finished with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in 30 minutes.
It's a similar situation to Saturday's loss, but against the Clemson Tigers. Henderson and freshman guard Dante Allen were two of three Hurricanes to score in double figures. They couldn't contain the Tigers' size, giving up 34 points in the paint, nor match their three-point shooting.
Tigers junior forward Carter Welling finished with 18 points, a new season high, two three-pointers made, nine rebounds, and an assist in 29 minutes.
Another key factor in the Hurricanes' latest struggles has been Tre Donaldson's slump. The senior guard scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games before the Tigers' matchup. He's been one of the vocal points for the team offensively and was named ACC Player of the Week on Monday, Jan. 12th, following the victory against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Donaldson finished with 27 points, a new career high, 10 assists, three steals, and a rebound in 32 minutes in that matchup.
After four consecutive victories against ACC opponents, these back-to-back losses have been self-inflicting. They will travel to Central New York for Saturday's matchup against the Syracuse Orange.
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