Miami (FL) basketball rose as a March Madness threat after stunning North Carolina in February. The Hurricanes strengthened their NCAA Tournament resume by beating Louisville 78-73 Thursday. Yet Lucas found himself needing to apologize to Malik Reneau after the game.
Why considering he dropped 24 on the Cardinals? Lucas explained with reporters postgame.
“I had to apologize to Malik Reneau. I felt like I had been yelling at him the whole game, then I look down and he has 24 (points) and six (rebounds),” Lucas said.
Yet Lucas has high expectations for Reneau.
“But that’s the standard I hold him to,” he said.
Reneau hit his point total on 8-of-17 shooting from field goal range.
Miami (FL) increasing NCAA Tournament chances
Miami looks more like a lock to make it inside the field of 68 following its five-point win in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Team Rankings now lists their chances to make it in at 75.6%. That includes getting handed a 73.2% at-large bid.
ESPN”s Joe Lunardi has the ‘Canes entering the field as a No. 8 seed. The renown bracketologist plugs Miami to face TCU in the Greenville regional out East.
CBS Sports bracketology places Miami slightly higher, handing them the No. 7 in the east. The Texas Longhorns are the projected opponent in that bracket.
Miami showed it's overachieving under the first-year head coach Lucas. He took over a program that fell to 7-24 overall plus watched school legend Jim Larranaga retire after 12 games.
By beating Louisville, Miami advances on to face the ACC's No. 2 seed Virginia on Friday inside the Spectrum Center.
