Opportunity knocks as Irish take on Hurricanes
By BRIAN KESSLER
Sports Editor
MIAMI, Fla.
Notre Dame's run to the NCAA Tournament has better resembled a crawl at times.
It seems like every time the Irish take a step forward, they take another step back. Wednesday's 89-79 loss to Providence was a major setback, but Notre Dame (16-11, 7-6) will look to rebound when they travel to Miami Saturday to take on the Hurricanes ( 17-9, 10-3).
"We see it as another opportunity," sophomore forward Troy Murphy said. "We have blown a lot of those opportunities this year, but the Miami game is a big game. It is nice to have another chance [to get a win]."
The Hurricanes knocked off the Irish 63-49 earlier this season at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame will look to avenge that loss and get back on track as the regular season nears its end.
"If we hang our heads, we'll lose another opportunity," head coach Matt Doherty said.
The Hurricane played on suffocating defense in the teams' first meeting, holding the Irish to just 32 percent shooting. Murphy, the conference's leading scorer and rebounder, was held to just 14 points, but pulled down 13 boards.
Notre Dame's shooting woes were evident in Matt Carroll's 3-for-11 shooting effort. The Irish will need a boost from Murphy and Carroll if they hope to upset the Hurricanes. Johnny Hemsley ripped Notre Dame for 18 points and point guard Vernon Jennings dished out 11 assists.
Miami shot 47 percent from the field and made 17-of-18 foul shots. The Hurricanes are riding a two-game win streak following a loss to Providence last week. However, unlike the Providence game, Notre Dame is the underdog and it has cherished that role all season. The Irish have knocked off heavy favorites like Connecticut, Seton Hall, Ohio State and St. John's.
"The pressure is not on us Saturday," Doherty said. "We're not expected to win. It's their home-court."
Following Wednesday's loss to Miami, Doherty was afraid he put to much emphasis on winning.
"Maybe I talked too much about winning this game, instead of talking about effort and concentration," he said. "Maybe we were too tight. We missed a lot of easy shots early. We wanted to do so well and we're frustrated we didn't. That's probably my fault."
Doherty intends to get his team solely focused on coming out and playing hard as he prepares for Saturday's Big East showdown. The game will have a huge impact on the Big East standings as the tournament nears and both teams' NCAA Tournament hopes.
"I told the team I thought we needed to win two more games [to make the NCAA tournament] and we have three more to play," Doherty said. "We have to put [the Providence game] out of our minds quickly. We have another tough game on Saturday."
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 25, 2000
