Miami's march toward Madison Square Gardens and the NIT semifinals continues Monday.
The second-seeded Hurricanes, who beat Valparaiso at home in the first round Wednesday, will take on sixth-seeded Minnesota, also at BankUnited Center, at 9 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN. The winner will face the winner of No. 1 seed Tennessee and No. 4 Middle Tennessee in the quarterfinals.
The 'Canes (20-12) and Golden Gophers (20-14), who advanced with a win against LaSalle on Wednesday, have met just once before ? the 'Canes won 63-58 on Dec. 2, 2009 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
"It's two good teams and we both have some pretty big guys," said Miami coach Jim Larranaga, whose counterpart, Tubby Smith, earned his 100th career win at Minnesota against LaSalle. "Hopefully our big guys will outwork their big guys."
The Gophers are led by Rodney Williams (11.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Julian Welch (10.1 ppg,3.0 apg). Williams, who scored 21 points against LaSalle and 20 against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament, is trying to become the first Gophers player with three straight 20-point performances since 2007.
Ralph Sampson III (7.9 ppg and 4.6 rpg), who Larranaga recruited in high school and whose father played at Virginia while Larranaga was an assistant coach there, is questionable with a sprained knee.
The Hurricanes hope 6-11 forward Kenny Kadji can get back on track. Kadji, who had scored in double figures in 18 of 19 games, has done so just once in the past five games.
The junior had two points on 1-for-4 shooting Wednesday against Valparaiso while playing just 14 minutes ? his third-fewest this season. He had 10 points the previous two games combined on 3-for-18 shooting.
"I feel very good today about Kenny -- I had a great meeting with him and I feel he'll be much better right now," Larranaga said Friday. He said Kadji's scoring struggles aren't related to anything particular.
"Guys go through segments of the season where they don't play very well and then they get their focus back," the coach noted.
Meanwhile, center Reggie Johnson had an efficient performance against Valparaiso, making 4-of-8 shots and finishing with nine points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Guard Rion Brown will remain a starter after two strong games in the wake of Durand Scott's suspension for having accepted impermissible benefits.
Garrius Adams, who played 26 minutes Wednesday, more than the previous three games combined (20), also should get substantial playing time off the bench after eight points, three assists and two rebounds.
"Now we have Garrius back from injury and he's starting to feel like himself," Larranaga said. "So that gives us another guy and that really helps. Garrius gives us more size, a way to rest Rion."
The second-seeded Hurricanes, who beat Valparaiso at home in the first round Wednesday, will take on sixth-seeded Minnesota, also at BankUnited Center, at 9 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN. The winner will face the winner of No. 1 seed Tennessee and No. 4 Middle Tennessee in the quarterfinals.
The 'Canes (20-12) and Golden Gophers (20-14), who advanced with a win against LaSalle on Wednesday, have met just once before ? the 'Canes won 63-58 on Dec. 2, 2009 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
"It's two good teams and we both have some pretty big guys," said Miami coach Jim Larranaga, whose counterpart, Tubby Smith, earned his 100th career win at Minnesota against LaSalle. "Hopefully our big guys will outwork their big guys."
The Gophers are led by Rodney Williams (11.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Julian Welch (10.1 ppg,3.0 apg). Williams, who scored 21 points against LaSalle and 20 against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament, is trying to become the first Gophers player with three straight 20-point performances since 2007.
Ralph Sampson III (7.9 ppg and 4.6 rpg), who Larranaga recruited in high school and whose father played at Virginia while Larranaga was an assistant coach there, is questionable with a sprained knee.
The Hurricanes hope 6-11 forward Kenny Kadji can get back on track. Kadji, who had scored in double figures in 18 of 19 games, has done so just once in the past five games.
The junior had two points on 1-for-4 shooting Wednesday against Valparaiso while playing just 14 minutes ? his third-fewest this season. He had 10 points the previous two games combined on 3-for-18 shooting.
"I feel very good today about Kenny -- I had a great meeting with him and I feel he'll be much better right now," Larranaga said Friday. He said Kadji's scoring struggles aren't related to anything particular.
"Guys go through segments of the season where they don't play very well and then they get their focus back," the coach noted.
Meanwhile, center Reggie Johnson had an efficient performance against Valparaiso, making 4-of-8 shots and finishing with nine points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Guard Rion Brown will remain a starter after two strong games in the wake of Durand Scott's suspension for having accepted impermissible benefits.
Garrius Adams, who played 26 minutes Wednesday, more than the previous three games combined (20), also should get substantial playing time off the bench after eight points, three assists and two rebounds.
"Now we have Garrius back from injury and he's starting to feel like himself," Larranaga said. "So that gives us another guy and that really helps. Garrius gives us more size, a way to rest Rion."
