Miami didn't quite take the path most anticipated, but still has gotten through its first six ACC games with a 3-3 conference record, which is not all that bad considering that four of those games were on the road.
The Hurricanes completed the week with a deceiving 76-54 victory at Boston College after starting the two-game road swing with a 15-point win at Georgia Tech.
The game at BC was tied at 49-49 with under seven minutes to play before the Hurricanes went on a 14-0 run to break it open.
Senior guard Malcolm Grant, who had struggled to find his shot in the early going, accounted for half that run after igniting the surge with his first three-pointer of the afternoon. The Hurricanes outscored the home team 27-5 at the end.
The back-to-back road wins somewhat make up for the earlier loss at home to North Carolina State that had dropped the Hurricanes to 1-3 in the conference race.
Now back to even and with a 12-7 overall record, the Hurricanes have once again put themselves into a position for a legitimate run at the top half of the ACC standings and eventual NCAA at-large consideration.
They are among the four teams sitting in the middle of the pack with three conference losses each.
Their next game is against one of those teams, Maryland, which also is 3-3 going into the midweek game at Coral Gables.
The Hurricanes next go to Duke for the only meeting of the season with the Blue Devils, then get three of their next four (Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and Wake Forest) at home.
Sandwiched in there is a trip to Florida State on Feb. 11.
NOTES, QUOTES
--Miami's back-to-back wins at Georgia Tech and at Boston College are the first consecutive road wins for the Hurricanes in ACC play since they beat Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech in consecutive road outings in February 2008.
That Miami team finished 8-8 in the conference and went to the NCAA Tournament, where it won a first-round game over Saint Mary's as a No. 7 regional seed before losing to Texas in the second round.
The Hurricanes have not made it back to the NCAA field since.
--Junior G Durand Scott was 8-of-15 from the field on his way to a game-high 19 points against Boston College. The total matched his season-high first posted in a win over Rutgers in the second game of the season.
Scott had not scored in double figures in either of the two previous games, settling for a combined 14 points against North Carolina State and Georgia Tech.
--Coach Jim Larranaga has received a four-year extension to his original contract that will run through April 2019. Larranaga is in his first season with the Hurricanes after being named last April to replace Frank Haith, who resigned to accept the post at Missouri. The extension was announced Jan. 27 three days after the Hurricanes won their first road game in ACC play, 64-49 at Georgia Tech.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"I talked to my son Jay last night and that question was kind of posed in the opposite. Jay basically said, 'You're a lifer. You're going to coach until the day you die.' It's just what I love to do. So I expect to coach at least that long if not longer." -- Coach Jim Larranaga, 62, when asked if he expected to coach to the end of his Miami contract, which was just extended through 2019.
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
--vs. Maryland, Feb. 1
Sophomore G Terrell Stoglin is coming off a 28-point outburst in the Terrapin's win over Virginia Tech and has topped the 20-point mark in 14 games this season, including three of the last four. He can light it up from behind the three-point arc. Senior G Sean Mosley broke out of a mild slump (12 points over three games) with 15 against the Holies.
--at Duke, Feb. 5
Duke presents a triple threat inside with twins Miles and Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly to go against Miami's Reggie Johnson and Kenny Kadji. Like Kadji, Kelly likes to shoot the three as well. The Blue Devils also have their usual firepower from the perimeter in Andre Dawkins, Austin Rivers, and Seth Curry.
FUTURES MARKET
Junior C Reggie Johnson is still working his way back into shape after missing the first nine games recovering from offseason knee surgery. "I think he has done a miraculous job," coach Jim Larranaga said. "It has been my experience over the years that the length of time a guy is out, that's the length of time it takes him to get back to where he was. Reggie Johnson was out five months. It really, in all honesty, could truly take him five months to get back to where he was and then improve from there. So the contribution Reggie has made has been remarkable." Johnson scored 12 points and had five rebounds in the win over Boston College, giving him season averages of 10.1 points and 6.7 rebounds in his 10 appearances.
PLAYER NOTES
--G Garrius Adams will be out for an "indefinite time," coach Jim Larranaga said, after undergoing knee surgery. Adams has played in 10 games, starting six, and averaged 5.7 points and 3.3 rebounds a game in those appearances.
--Senior G Malcolm Grant got off to a slow start at Boston College but finished strong, going 5-of-12 from the field and scoring 16 points. He has scored exactly 16 points in three of his last four games, missing only against North Carolina State when he managed only five. He also had 16 in wins over Clemson and Georgia Tech.
--Junior F Kenny Kadji extended his stretch of double-figure efforts to seven games with his 14 points against BC.
