CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Nobody needs to tell Miami coach Jim Larranaga that a trip to Hawaii does not guarantee fun and games.
Games? Yes. Three to be exact.
Fun? Not necessarily.
“We went out there my first year (as an assistant) at Virginia and we almost lost to Chaminade in a very, very close game,” Larranaga said Wednesday. “Two years later, we went out there as the No. 1 in the country and did lose to Chaminade.
“We kind of put them on the map back then, and people thought, well, we didn't play very well. The fact of the matter is, those teams on the islands are good. They have talent. ”
Larranaga and the Hurricanes now are on Oahu, where they will play in the Diamond Head Classic. Miami will face Hawaii — “the home team, they don’t have to travel at all,” as Larranaga put it — on Saturday night (or Sunday morning, 12:30 a.m. ET). The Canes then will meet fourth-ranked Arizona or East Tennessee State on Sunday before playing a final game on Christmas Day.
Other teams competing in the tournament include No. 18 San Diego State, Indiana State, Mississippi and San Francisco.
“We’re excited to go there because we heard it’s like a paradise,” 7-foot freshman center Tonye Jekiri said. “But our major goal is to win the tournament. The way we’re playing now, we really see ourselves winning the whole thing. That would be the biggest fun we have there -- winning the tournament.”
Miami, fourth behind N.C. State, Duke and North Carolina in a preseason poll of the ACC coaches, stumbled badly when it lost at Florida Gulf Coast in the season’s second game. Guard Durand Scott, who leads the Canes in scoring with 15.6 ppg., missed that game while sitting out the second half of a six-game NCAA suspension for receiving impermissible benefits that began last season.
Scott and the' Canes, however, have rebounded nicely; victories against then-No. 13 Michigan State at home and at Massachusetts have been the highlights of the non-conference slate so far. Miami won its sixth straight game by beating the University of Central Florida 72-50 at Orlando on Tuesday night.
The Hurricanes then left Miami on Thursday morning for a nearly 5,000-mile commercial flight trek to Dallas and then Honolulu. The team planned to enjoy a luau Friday night and a trip to Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve — other than that, the focus will be basketball.
“This kind of trip is very much like a business trip in that you’re so busy preparing … there’s not a lot of down time,” Larranaga said. “There’s a lot of travel because we’re traveling so far. I would say it’s a good time to bond but there’s not a lot of free time.”
With Arizona a potential second-round opponent at the Classic and a possible game against San Diego State, the Hurricanes (7-1) know they can crack the Top 25 with a good showing.
The Diamond Head Classic also represents a chance to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
“Your non-conference schedule is really built with one thing in mind, and that’s to have a quality RPI ranking at the end of your non-conference play,” Larranaga said.
“The teams in this tournament, a number of them are in the Top 20, 40, 50 … and that’s the kind of competition you want to face if you want to earn an at-large bid. So it’s gong to be vitally important for us to play well and advance to improve our status for the Selection Committee to look at us as a quality team deserving of an at-large bid.”
After returning from Hawaii, the Hurricanes will enjoy a few days of rest before playing host to La Salle on Jan. 2. The ACC slate will begin Jan. 5 at Georgia Tech.
Scott and fellow senior Reggie Johnson (12.6 ppg., 10.1 rpg.) have led the way for a balanced Miami attack. Sophomore Shane Larkin (14.8) and seniors Kenny Kadji (11.3) and Trey McKinney Jones (11.0) round out the double-figure scorers.
Besides his players’ knack for sharing the ball offensively, Larranaga has been pleased with defensive improvements.
“What we’ve been working in is ‘help the helper,’” Larranaga said. “ We've been OK with the first help — a guy gets beat and the first help is there, but then often ... let’s say it’s Reggie or Kenny, they help but then their man scores. So we need someone to help the helper.
“You need first help, second help and third help. We did that (Tuesday night) probably the best we've done.”
With ACC opponents waiting soon after the Diamond Classic, the Hurricanes realize there’s no time to relax.
“We’re still striving to get better,” Scott said. “We just want to go out there and work hard and get better at every key aspect of the game.”
