Miami Hurricanes win NIT game without Durand Scott - MiamiHerald.com

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Miami Hurricanes win NIT game without Durand Scott - MiamiHerald.com Mar 15th 2012, 02:36 The University of Miami men's basketball team has become accustomed to dealing with adversity. The Hurricanes found out Wednesday that junior guard Durand Scott, the team's leading scorer, would not be able to play again this season after the NCAA ruled Scott would be reinstated but would have to serve five more games in a six-game suspension for receiving impermissible benefits. Led by his replacement in the starting lineup, Rion Brown, UM found a way to persevere with a 66-50 victory against Valparaiso in the first round of the NIT tournament before a crowd of 1,229 at the BankUnited Center. UM (20-12) will host Minnesota in the second round of the NIT at the BankUnited Center sometime between Friday and Monday. The date and time was yet to be determined at press time. Minnesota (20-14) defeated La Salle 70-61 Wednesday. Scott's suspension covers six games overall with Scott having already served one when he sat out the team's loss to Florida State last week in the ACC quarterfinals. The ruling came hours before tipoff just like the original declaration of his ineligibility prior to the FSU game, which UM lost. "It's just more adversity for us to overcome," freshman guard Shane Larkin said. "We've been dealing with this stuff all year. We just stayed together and stayed positive. We didn't want the season to end tonight." Scott, who sat on UM's bench during Wednesday's game, would serve out the suspension completely this season if UM were to reach the NIT championship game. If the Hurricanes are eliminated in an earlier round, Scott would have to sit out however many games are remaining at the start of next season. In addition to the suspension Scott's reinstatement requires him to pay the value of the received benefits to charity. The benefits were received prior to the arrival of the current coaching staff at Miami. Scott is the third player to be suspended this season for UM, joining Reggie Johnson (one game) and DeQuan Jones (10 games). "I don't know more than what was on the press release that was put out earlier [Wednesday]," Larranaga said. "We talked to Durand to let him know what he'd be dealing with and he handled it with great class. He did great job at our pregame shoot-around. I was impressed with the way Reggie [Johnson] handled his [suspension] and equally impressed with the way Durand handled his." Brown made sure the Hurricanes would play another game, by scoring 18 points and collecting six rebounds. Brown also made 4 of 7 shots from three-point range to spark a solid three-point shooting night for UM, which finished 10 for 22 from beyond the arc. "Rion has played very well for a quite a long period of time," UM coach Jim Larranaga said. "[Valparaiso]'s zone gave him more chances, but he's been shooting well, defending and rebounding well. When he does that, he becomes a complete player." Valparaiso (22-12), a strong three-point shooting team this season, made only 5 of 27 threes and only 2 of its first 19 attempts. The Crusaders were forced to use a six-man rotation due to the absence of guards Jay Harris and Matt Kenney, whom each missed the game with flu-like symptoms, according to their coach Bryce Drew. After Valparaiso cut UM's lead to 32-30 with 14:22 remaining in the second half, the Hurricanes began to pull away. UM used a 12-3 run, sparked by consecutive threes from Brown and Trey McKinney Jones. The Hurricanes scored the final 12 points as Valparaiso was held without a field goal for the final 4:23 of the game. Valparaiso's forward tandem of 6-7 Ryan Broekhoff and 6-8 Kevin Van Wijk hurt Miami inside for most of the first 30 minutes of the game. The duo combined for 24 points and 17 rebounds. But Larranaga praised Garrius Adams for his efforts defending the two as the Hurricanes went to a smaller, quicker lineup. Adams played 26 minutes and finished with eight points, three assists and two rebounds. "Without Durand, we still wanted an eight-man rotation," Larranaga said. "I was concerned with our situation at the 4 or 5 position because Broekhoff if a tough matchup. But having Garrius available and him being able to stay sharp was big." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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