Kam McGusty: 'We got picked to finish 12th preseason in our conference eight months ago'

Miami is headed to its first Elite Eight in program history after being picked 12th (out of 15) among ACC teams in the preseason. Six months later, the Hurricanes are one game away from the Final Four as a 10 seed thanks, in part, due to Kam McGusty‘s big night against Iowa State to earn a 70-56 victory over the Cyclones.

“You said it there, to reach the first Elite Eight in program history. That’s it’s amazing. It still feels unreal. This is a crazy feeling,” McGusty said. “We got picked to finish 12th preseason in our conference eight months ago — it’s a long season, but at the beginning of the season if we would have told you we were going to the Elite Eight, everybody would laugh at us and look at us crazy. Even three weeks into the season if we told that everybody would look at us crazy.”

McGusty finished Friday’s win with 27 points on 10-18 shooting (4-7, 3-point) and six rebounds. After Miami scored the first seven points, the outcome of the game was never really in doubt, leading by as many as 14 in the second half. In addition to McGusty, Miami guard Jordan Miller had 16 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting. As a team, the Hurricanes finished the game shooting 46.4% from the field and 34.6% from 3-point range.

Miami is 6-1 this month — the only loss coming to fellow ACC foe in the Duke Blue Devils, who are also among the eight teams left in the tournament, in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. They pushed Duke to the limit but ultimately came up short. In short, the Hurricanes are playing their best basketball right now and have no intentions of turning that engine off when they play again on Sunday. McGusty credits team chemistry for his team’s late season push.

“It’s just amazing to be here. I love these guys,” McGusty said. “We’ve created a bond that can never be broken. And I’m just proud that we were able to pull it off.”

The Hurricanes will now battle the lone remaining No. 1 seed in the tournament in the Kansas Jayhawks. Tip off is set for 2:20 p.m. ET on Sunday live on CBS with a shot at the Final Four on the line. The winner will play either Villanova or Houston in New Orleans next week.