After a comeback that fell short in last week’s face-off, Miami hopes adjustments can flip the script on Thursday
Just five days after closing that regular season against each other, the Miami Hurricanes and Louisville Cardinals are set to run it back on Thursday afternoon in the ACC Tournament.
The two teams are set to face off at 2:30 PM from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, creating a rare back-to-back matchup for Miami, and a situation where both programs know exactly what to expect from one another.
For Miami head coach Jai Lucas and his Hurricanes, the focus following Saturday’s loss to Louisville has been focusing on the early issues and correcting them from their last meeting. The Cardinals started the game and majority of the first half shooting red-hot from three-point range, forcing Miami to play from behind the entire game.
Lucas on Wednesday pointed to that opening stretch as the biggest difference in the game.
“I think it was the start that shocked us,” Lucas said. “The shooting and the shot making they’ve always been capable of, and they’ve done it all year. They were uncontested, wide-open threes. If we can do a better job at cleaning that up and if we can get that 10-12 minutes back at the start of the game, I think it’s a different game.”
Louisville capitalized on those open looks on Saturday, shooting 60% (9-15) from 3PT in the first half and establishing an early rhythm. Miami eventually settled in and powered their way back into it backed by the Watsco Center crowd but ultimately fell short.
“It was our last game so our guys should be fresh in the prep,” Lucas said. “Some of the stuff that we saw in that game that hurt us is all we’ve been working on.”
The familiarity between these two teams entering Thursday could make the matchup mostly a battle of adjustments. Louisville is coming into the rematch with Miami following a 62–58 win over SMU earlier Wednesday to advance in the ACC Tournament, a win the Cardinals had to grind out late in the game despite shooting cold from 3PT all game, finishing just 6-for-26 (23%).
The Cardinals will once again be without one of their primary scorers in freshman Mikel Brown Jr, so they will again have to look to Ryan Conwell to be the difference maker like he was in Saturday’s matchup.
Meanwhile for Miami, being able to slow down Louisville’s perimeter attack will be a major focus. Cleaning up the mistakes on defense that allowed those early open looks and avoiding the slow start on offense will be something the Hurricanes hope to improve going into Thursday afternoon.
Tipoff is set for tomorrow at 2:30 PM on ESPN2, with both teams looking to advance deeper into the ACC Tournament as March basketball continues to heat up like it always does.
(Photo Credit: Christian Proscia, NewEraPrep)
