As it is with everything this time of year, it is all about the matchups. For the Miami Hurricanes, they have a challenging one right out of the gate in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. No. 7 Miami will take on No. 10 Missouri Tigers late into the night on Friday. Tipoff may not be until 10:10 p.m. ET, but they will have to hunker down and find a way to get into the Round of 32 to likely take on Purdue.
While this may be Dennis Gates' third tournament team in four years at Missouri, as well as his fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament overall if we include Cleveland State's run to the Round of 64 back in 2021, his team does tend to play a bit frenetic, especially in crunch time. It has played a part in why Missouri enters the tournament with a 20-12 overall record, and only as a No. 10 seed out of the SEC.
This may be the very last tournament game in the Round of 64, but Miami opens as an incredibly slight favorite. FanDuel Sportsbook has the Canes laying 1.5 points on a neutral site. The associated moneylines for this game are Miami -132 and Missouri +110. We are looking at a combined point total of 147.5 points. A potential projected final score could look something like Miami 74.5, Missouri 73.
Despite Missouri being a challenging matchup, here is why Miami can put all of its trust into Jai Lucas.
Jai Lucas is the perfect leader of men to guide Miami into the Round of 32
As we look at what all Miami has accomplished this season, Lucas has played a critical part in this year's Hurricanes team going 25-8 thus far. He seems to provide the right level of energy on the sidelines that perfectly guides Miami through the ebbs and flows of critical basketball moments. This is a skill that many of the very best coaches in college basketball needed years to fully get control of.
It is why Miami is a 1.5-point favorite over Missouri coming in. They may only be a possession better than the Tigers on paper, but that could make all the difference in this one. Lucas has the aura to inject confidence in his team down the stretch. It is why if the ball bounces their way a few more times, there is a non-zero chance this team could go on a run. So how far could Miami realistically go?
With a win over Missouri, Miami has an outside shot at getting to the Elite Eight out of the West Region. No. 2 Purdue loves to throw up all over itself early in the tournament. While No. 6 BYU could be a tough matchup in the Sweet 16, there is nothing overly special about No. 3 Gonzaga this season. Where Miami may run out of gas is in the Elite Eight going up against No. 1 Arizona or No. 4 Arkansas.
Overall, Lucas coaches with a disposition about himself that seems wise beyond his years. We are talking about a guy getting to lead his own team for the first time in his late 30s. He cut his teeth as a top assistant on Jon Scheyer's staff at Duke. It is not the same as learning from Mike Krzyzewski, but it is in Duke's blue blood to go on deep runs in the tournament. Maybe Lucas can bring that to Miami?
For now, let's take a few deep breaths, relax, and wait for tipoff to finally get here late on Friday night.