Written by Austin Sapin at CanesWarning.com
When the Miami Hurricanes tip-off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Wednesday night in South Bend, everyone will have already had their calendars flipped to March. This entire season for the Canes has been spectacular with buzzer-beaters, monumental wins and finally some national recognition for ‘The U’, but as those calendars flip and hit that third month of the year, now is the time that matters most.
Miami will look to wrap up this brutal four-game ACC stretch as they travel to Notre Dame looking to start March as they hope to end it, with a win. On the heels of possibly the best week ever in program history, a win against the Fighting Irish will keep the hopes of an ACC Regular Season title alive as well keep them in the hunt for a No. 1 seed.
The two teams played just under a month ago at the BankUnited Center and the Hurricanes easily dispatched the Irish in a 79-70 victory. This time around, Coach Jim Larranaga’s squad will have to play in the always difficult Edmund P. Joyce Center and will be without star sophomore point guard Ja’Quan Newton, who will be serving the second game of his three game suspension for violation of team rules.
For Miami to come out of this four-game stretch with a 3-1 record would be quite incredible and would show that the Hurricanes are ready for all the madness later this month. Before tip-off of this crucial game, here are the three things you need to know:
Tonye Jekiri will need to continue to play his All-ACC caliber defense against Zach Auguste.
Against both Virginia and Louisville, Miami center Tonye Jekiri didn’t fill up the stat sheet, but his presence on the court was certainly felt. Whether it was impressive defensive plays both on and off the ball or tough rebounds against some of the most athletic big men in the ACC, the 7-foot senior was crucial to both of the Hurricanes victories. Against Zach Auguste on Wednesday night, he’ll need to do just the same.
In the last matchup between the two teams, Auguste got into foul trouble early and could just never get going, but that also had to do with the defense from Miami’s interior. Keeping Notre Dame’s big forward off the board has been so important to the success of the Fighting Irish’s opponents this season. When Auguste has scored less than 13 points this season, Notre Dame is 5-7 and when he scores more than 13 points, they are 14-2. Obviously the Canes aren’t guaranteed a victory if Auguste finishes below 13 points, but it sure give Miami a significantly better chance at grabbing a victory.
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