UM basketball coach Courtney answers critics as woeful 4-14 Hurricanes head to Stanford

The final score of Saturday’s home game was painful for even the most loyal and forgiving University of Miami men’s basketball fans to accept: SMU 117, UM 74.

It was the seventh loss in a row for the Hurricanes this season and 17^th consecutive ACC loss dating to last season, which is especially demoralizing considering Miami’s historic Final Four run in 2023.

But more troubling, fans wrote on social media, was the apparent lack of effort from the Hurricanes, whose legendary coach Jim Larranaga retired unexpectedly the day after Christmas. The team is winless through six games under interim coach Bill Courtney heading into cross-country road games Wednesday at Stanford and Saturday at Cal.

“For the first time ever, I left a game at the half of a UM sporting event,” wrote one fan, adding “The one thing that stands out to me is the complete lack of pride in playing a sport for a once prominent basketball program. There has been no hustle, no effort, and apparently, just going through the motions waiting for a portal departure.”

Those sentiments were shared by many Canes fans:

“I’d like a refund for my season tickets, truly effortless all the way around.”

“Watching their demeanor on the bench and the court tells me there is no `team’ just underachieving individuals.”

Asked to address those fan perceptions on Monday, Courtney replied: “I certainly hope that perception is not reality…I could see how people could perceive it that way with our defensive struggles in particular and the lack of performance we had on Saturday. But I think, in no way, shape or form did the kids give up.”

Instead, he explained, “our kids did hang their heads a little bit” in the first half after SMU “hit us in the mouth with their execution and shot making.”

The Mustangs shot a jaw-dropping 76.5 percent from the field in the first half, 64 percent from beyond the arc, outrebounded the Hurricanes 19-4, held a 34-8 edge in points in the paint, and led 60-26 at halftime.

“It’s very difficult to keep going when you haven’t had success, and we had a very, very bad first half where we didn’t show a lot of fight because we got dejected,” Courtney said. “We’ve preached and preached about fighting through adversity, but when you’re 18 to 22 years old, and it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes that can affect your mentality. I think that’s what happened to us.”

He challenged the players to pick up their energy in the second half, and they did. The Hurricanes were outscored by just nine points after halftime. Matt Cleveland, who scored just six points in the first half, finished with a career-high 31 after going 8-of-11 in the second half. But that didn’t make the final scoreline sting any less.

Courtney feels the fans’ pain. He lamented that he resorted to using seven timeouts in first halves of the past two games, trying to get his players back on track.

“I’m trying to figure out how to get that to stop and how to get us to fight through that adversity,” he said.

Things will get no easier this week for the Hurricanes, who are 4-14 on the season and 0-7 in the ACC. Stanford is 12-6 and 4-3 in its first season in the conference. The Cardinal is coming off a one-point road win over North Carolina. Duke grad transfer Jaylen Blakes hit a jumper with 1.5 seconds left to secure the victory over the Tar Heels.

Miami will have its hands full against Stanford’s 7-1 French center Maxime Raynaud, who is averaging 20.8 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. He had 24 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks against UNC.

Courtney had high praise for Raynaud, Blakes, and Stanford coach Kyle Smith, against whom he coached when Smith was at Columbia and Courtney at Cornell.

“His teams are always overachieving,” Courtney said. “They run a myriad of defenses that keep you off balance. They’re spearheaded offensively by Maxime Raynaud, who is one of best big guys in the country. He presents so many problems with his ability to shoot jump shots, go inside and score and his passing. He’s one of the best rebounders in the country.”

Blakes, who has made two game-winning shots this season, is playing with great confidence and “has made one of the biggest single season improvements we’ve seen,” Courtney said. “He’s playing with absolute fearlessness. Him and Maxime are a two-headed monster, and the other guys do a great job of playing their roles and knocking down shots.”

Miami center Lynn Kidd will have to step up, as will Kiree Huie, the 6-9 Idaho State transfer who missed the first few months of the season with a hand injury and returned two games ago.

“Kiree is really still working off the rust,” Courtney said. “He hasn’t played since September and is still trying to figure out his role. He’s a great rebounder and plays with tremendous intensity. At some point he’s going to help us.”

Courtney hopes the long flight and time away from South Florida might help the players bond during this rough patch.

“Traveling this far gives us the opportunity to be with each other for an extended amount of time, way from a lot of friends and family and high school and AAU coaches, so you’re just around your teammates,” he said. “I do think that helps our group a little bit because everybody’s so new.”

There is only one player on this roster from the Final Four team, guard Nijel Pack, and he has been out the past eight games with an unspecified foot injury since early December. He is out indefinitely and Courtney said he has no timetable for his return.

The UM vs Stanford game tips off Wednesday at 11 p.m. and will be shown on ESPNU.