CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Miami continued to do what they have done since Reggie Johnson fractured his left thumb in practice over three weeks ago. They had other players come up big, they survived a close call, and most of all, they won. Their 60-59 win at Boston College wasn’t very smooth or memorable, but it is a win and it is big for this team for multiple reasons.
Since Johnson went out, Kenny Kadji has taken his play to another level and Julian Gamble has been the biggest beneficiary of his minutes. Gamble has made the most of the extra minutes, although he wasn’t a big factor on Wednesday night as the Hurricanes went smaller at times to guard the Eagles’ lineup with four perimeter players. They’ve tried to get something out of both Raphael Akpejiori and freshman Tonye Jekiri as well, though neither has distinguished himself just yet as an offensive factor.
“Raphael and Tonye are both very helpful to us,” said head coach Jim Larranaga. “We don’t get the offensive firepower, but they give us tremendous defensive effort. When they were in the game, we did a pretty good job defensively. It puts a lot of pressure on our perimeter players because they don’t score.”
Miami had to go without Johnson for the first nine games of last season, so this isn’t something new to most of this team. They’ve learned to live – and win – without him. They would love to have him, of course, and should have him sometime next month. But the way this team has managed without him, especially at the start of ACC play, says a lot about what this team will be capable of when he returns. And they can’t wait for that to happen.
“I’m definitely not happy because he’s not on the floor,” said senior guard Durrand Scott, who led Miami with 15 points on Wednesday night. “Until he’s on the floor, we won’t be happy because there’s always going to be a missing piece of our team, and a very important piece of our team. We’re very fortunate to get wins without him, but I think we would be a much better team with him because he’s a senior and a leader.”
That’s not all the adversity this team has faced. Scott had to sit out the first three games due to an NCAA withholding penalty and Garrius Adams may miss the entire season after missing much of January and February last year. They also lost Bishop Daniels last month as he decided to transfer closer to home.
Miami had some in-game adversity to battle on Wednesday as well. Scott had to sit after his elbow bothered him and there was concern of a cramp, though that was not the case. That would have reduced an already thin rotation even more, and all as they played smaller at times with a limited perimeter unit. The Hurricanes were never in rhythm at the offensive end all night long, but turning the ball over just once in the second half (six times for the game) went a long way toward pulling this game out.
Since Johnson has been out, a lot of the team’s numbers have been down, as one might expect. They went 1-2 in the Diamond Head Classic, but there’s no shame in losing to Arizona and Indiana State. They are holding opponents to a lower shooting percentage, but of concern is that they are getting out-rebounded and that included Boston College having a slight 31-30 edge on the glass.
After the losses in Hawaii, they have been on a roll, and started ACC play with three of the first four on the road. They won all four of those games. Doing so would be a feat by itself, especially since one of them was at North Carolina. Doing it without Johnson is more impressive. While re-integrating a player into the lineup upon return is sometimes more of a challenge than it might seem in theory, that shouldn’t be a problem with Johnson as that wasn’t the case last year.
With all of that, Miami has earned the week off that they get before hosting Duke. The Hurricanes are alone atop the ACC at 4-0 after NC State lost at Maryland on Wednesday night. There’s still more of a gauntlet to run in the ACC, but this was a pretty good way to start and especially given the circumstances. They continue to find ways to win without Johnson. When they get him back, they will be that much more dangerous.
