If the Miami Hurricanes can’t get two wins over a three-day span, the career of senior center Reggie Johnson will have ended with Sunday night’s victory over Illinois in Austin.
Johnson had a surgical procedure to repair a minor meniscus issue on Tuesday, which helps explain why ‘Big Reg’ has been noticeably off the past few weeks.
Johnson played eighteen minutes against the Fighting Illini on Sunday, 0-of-1 in field goals, pulling own five rebounds, one assist and a charged with a crucial turnover.
Against Pacific last Thursday, Johnson went twenty-four minutes and was 2-of-5 in field goals, pulled down ten rebounds but had four turnovers. He had seven points against the Tigers, but was held scoreless in his last outing.
What Miami could gain with more minutes for Julian Gamble and Kenny Kadji, is loses in leadership and camaraderie as the beloved Johnson is a key figure in practice, the locker room and on the bench.
Fans have been critical of Johnson’s play as of late, with message board barbs about weight and lack of production, but even those frustrated with the center’s play know this team is better with Johnson than without.
Johnson has appeared in twenty-six games this season and has started nine. He’s averaging 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds a game and would’ve been an asset against third-seeded Marquette, who has out-rebounded opponents by 4.5 pull-downs per game.
The Golden Eagles have posted thirty-one rebounds in this year’s NCAA Tournament, third behind Michigan State (34) and Gonzaga (32) over two games.
What’s that mean? More good defense and Miami has to hit their shots.
A .400 field goal percentage against Illinois needs to be closer to that .462 outing against Pacific and sharpshooters like Durand Scott and Shane Larkin need to bring their best.
Scott was held to six points against the Fighting Illini, while Larkin was 5-of-12 in field goal, scoring five of his final seventeen points in the game’s final minute, his three-pointer to take the lead and two late free throws.
The loss of Johnson is overcome-able from an Xs and Os perspective, but emotionally Miami will have to rise the to the occasion after losing a key leader.
Advancing to the Final Four is no longer the lone goal this weekend.
Getting Johnson in a Miami uniform for at least one more game must also be a driving force for the Canes.
Christian Bello has been covering Miami Hurricanes athletics since the mid-1990s. After spending almost a decade as a columnist for CanesTime, he launched allCanesBlog.com. – the official blog for allCanes.com : The #1 Canes Shop Since 1959. Bello has joined up with XOFan.com and will be a guest columnist at CaneInsider.com this fall. Follow him on Twitter @ChristianRBello.