The Miami Hurricanes are officially set for their first March Madness run under head coach Jai Lucas
The Miami Hurricanes learned their postseason destination on Sunday evening during the bracket unveiling of Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament.
The Hurricanes enter the tournament as a 7-seed in the West Region and are set to travel to St. Louis, Missouri for a first round matchup against the 10-seed Missouri Tigers on Friday, with time TBD. Players, coaches, and fans gathered together on Sunday to watch the show, with Coral Gables erupting in cheers from The Rathskeller on UM’s campus.
For the Canes, the announcement marked the beginning of what they hope to make a memorable March in the first year under head coach Jai Lucas. Lucas after the event spoke on the matchup, and what it means to have a first round matchup against a team like Missouri in their own backyard.
“For us, this is our usual,” Lucas said. “This will be a road game, and we’ve been in big environments before like this so we’ll just go and do what we do.”
Coach Lucas also touched on how important it was for the program to dance their way to March in just year-one of his Miami tenure.
“It feels good. This is what you always want to give the program and your team the opportunity to compete for a national championship, and that’s what you do everything the whole season for.”
Miami finished most of the regular season on a high note going into the conference tournament where they would take down a Top 25 ranked Louisville team, before suffering an 84-62 loss to Virginia in the ACC Tournament Semifinals on Friday. Miami looks to bounce back from that loss and regroup going into the first round of 64.
Now the focus for Lucas and his team shifts to preparation for UCF. With just 5 days till tipoff in St. Louis, Miami’s staff and roster will begin to turn their attention to the win-or-go-home mentality of March Madness.
A win in round one against Missouri would send Miami to the Round of 32, where they would face the winner of the 2nd seeded Purdue Boilermakers or 15th seed Queens Royals.
Let the Madness begin.
(Photo: Christian Proscia, NewEraPrep)
