By Michelle Kaufman, McClatchy Newspapers –
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The University of Miami student body trickled back onto campus from spring break on Monday as classes resumed, but the Hurricanes men’s basketball team looked like it was still on vacation during much of its second-round NIT game against the University of Minnesota.
(PHOTO: Miami’s DeQuan Jones is fouled on his way to the basket during the NIT basketball game against Minnesota at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Florida, Monday March 19, 2012.)
The Hurricanes shot miserably, trailed from start to finish and paid for their lethargy with a 78-60 loss that ended their once-promising season with a thud. It was their largest margin of defeat all season.
“I have no idea why we came out the way we did, but we didn’t look like we wanted to win,” said sophomore Rion Brown, who led Miami with 16 points and six rebounds. “Of course, we wanted to keep playing, especially for the seniors. None of us wanted to go out like this on a loss.”
Canes coach Jim Larranaga said he sensed the team wasn’t mentally sharp at shootaround. “Our guys were coming off semester break, and it appeared their minds were on classes and other things, and they were not mentally ready. We came out very lethargic and were never able to generate any defensive intensity.”
Larranaga pointed out that the Gophers scored most of their first-half points on dunks and layups, and that was “very, very disappointing” because the Hurricanes had prided themselves on interior defense all season.
Miami missed its first seven shots, the Gophers went on a 12-0 run and the Canes didn’t get on the scoreboard until Trey McKinney Jones’ jumper at 13:45. Miami got a brief burst of energy, went on an 11-0 tear capped by back-to-back dunks by DeQuan Jones and Garrius Adams, awakening the crowd of 1,649 from its slumber.
But Minnesota answered with a 12-2 run to take a 10-point lead and never looked back. At halftime, the Canes trailed 35-23 after shooting 8 for 26, missing all nine three-point attempts, and allowing the Gophers to make 61 percent of their shots. Miami was also outrebounded 19-10 in the half.
The Hurricanes missed their first 14 three-point attempts before Adams finally got one in with a little over 11 minutes left in the game. Minnesota went on a 15-2 run to take its biggest lead of the night, 56-33.
The Gophers (21-14) advance to the NIT quarterfinal on Wednesday against Middle Tennessee. Miami (20-13) is left to wonder what might have been had all its players been healthy and eligible all season, and had Kenny Kadji not slipped into a postseason funk.
Leading scorer Durand Scott served the third game of his six-game suspension for accepting improper benefits from a member of former coach Frank Haith’s staff.
Kadji, one of the top-scoring big men in the Atlantic Coast Conference for much of the season, went 5 of 27 during the postseason and averaged three points. On Monday, he went 1 of 5 for three points with one rebound in 11 minutes. He played only nine minutes in the first half, and Jones replaced him to start the second half.
Junior forward Rodney Williams led the Gophers with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes. He scored 16 in the first half. Andre Hollins and Joe Coleman added 14 apiece, and Julian Welch had 13.
Reggie Johnson chipped in 10 points for Miami but had only two rebounds. Senior Malcolm Grant struggled, missing seven of his eight shots.
Miami reached last year’s NIT quarterfinals and hoped to better that showing this season and get into the NCAA Tournament. When that didn’t happen, they vowed to make it to Madison Square Garden for the semifinal.
Instead, they trudged off the BankUnited Center floor after their most listless performance of the year.
“This was a fun first year for me here, but we have a lot of work to do in the spring and summer if we’re going to be the kind of team we want to be,” Larranaga said. “This is very disappointing.”
