Five weeks ago, Miami was unranked. Now, the Hurricanes are on top of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and not far from the top of the college basketball world.

“We want to enjoy the journey, but we also want to stay focused on our next opponent,” head coach Jim Larranaga said in the ACC coaches’ teleconference on Feb. 4. “And that’s what the guys have been able to do. If you win a game, enjoy that, celebrate that for a short while, but the very next day, you’re back to the office doing your job.”

Projected to barely finish fourth in the conference, No. 2 Miami (21-3, 12-0 ACC) has taken the nation by storm, shooting up through the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Now with a three-game lead over Duke in the conference standings, Larranaga’s well-balanced and experienced squad is riding a 13-game winning streak, on pace to earn one of the most improbable No. 1 seeds in recent NCAA Tournament memory.

The Hurricanes were given one of the country’s toughest nonconference schedules and an overall slate currently ranked the third strongest nationally. Still, Miami has knocked off three ranked teams this year, starting with then-No. 13 Michigan State in late November – a team that’s now worked its way into the top five.

But a trip to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic at the end of December proved costly. The Hurricanes dropped a 19-point decision to then-No. 4 Arizona, their second game of the day, then lost two days later to Indiana State in overtime.

On top of that, Miami lost starting center Reggie Johnson, a 6-foot-10, 292-pound senior who broke his left thumb in practice and was expected to miss the next six to eight weeks.

“I told Reggie he has until February to get in the best shape of his life so he can help us during the most crucial part of the schedule,” Larranaga said in a Dec. 31 article by The Miami Herald.

But Johnson returned ahead of schedule, just in time for the Hurricanes’ home matchup with then-No. 1 Duke on Jan. 23. Miami fans started lining up outside of the arena for seats about 24 hours before tipoff, and some even camped out to get as close as they could to the action.

“I don’t know how you can sit outside for a basketball game for that long,” Miami guard and leading scorer Durand Scott said after the game. “That made me want to win for them even more.”

Scott delivered a season-high 25 points as the then-No. 25 Hurricanes thrashed the Blue Devils by 27 points, the third worst margin of defeat for a No. 1 team ever. Miami fans stormed the court in celebration of a victory that was essentially decided by Miami’s 23-point lead at halftime.

Three games later, Miami, which moved up to No. 14, kept its momentum going with a one-point win at then-No. 19 North Carolina State – the preseason ACC favorite – courtesy of a tip-in by Johnson with less than a second left in the game. Since returning from his injury, Johnson hasn’t been a major factor offensively, but his presence is felt on the boards, as he’s averaging 8.3 rebounds per game for the year.

Guard Shane Larkin has been just as instrumental to the Hurricanes’ success. The sophomore and only underclassman in the starting lineup, Larkin is the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.2 points per game while dishing out 4.3 assists per contest, tied for third in the ACC.

But Larkin’s conference-leading 2.1 steals per game are just as crucial to Miami’s scoring defense, which ranks third in the conference.

“He’s terrific at everything,” Larranaga said in the Jan. 28 ACC coaches’ teleconference. “He’s a heck of a defender, he works so hard defensively, comes up with steals … He runs the team, he shoots the 3, he handles the press, just having an all-conference caliber year.”

Miami still has six regular season games left on its schedule. With wins over the ACC’s presumed top teams, Miami’s resume now is arguably impressive enough for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

But the Hurricanes expect to inflict even more damage in the postseason.

“Beating Duke, Carolina, N.C. State, these are schools that passed up on guys playing at Miami right now, so beating these teams is very special,” Johnson said after the win over N.C. State. “I’m not sure what people think of us now, but they should respect us. People think we’re good, but I think we’ve got a great team. We can make noise come March.”

Published on February 19, 2013 at 12:02 am

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