Nijel Pack missing Florida State game due to injury

The Miami Hurricanes were without one of their best players against the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday. Per the ‘Canes official Twitter page, Nijel Pack missed Saturday’s game due to a lower extremity injury. His status will be day-to-day moving forward. Miami lost the game, thanks to a buzzer-beater for the ages from Matthew Cleveland of Florida State. It was the largest comeback in ACC history.

Pack is one of the most explosive guards in college basketball. He’s been averaging 13.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game, while shooting 44 % from the field. A highly explosive scorer, the former Kansas State standout can score over 20 points on any given night for the Hurricanes, so his loss is a big one. Truth be told, the Hurricanes probably have so many weapons though, they can afford to give him some time off. The ‘Canes boast three more players that can score over 20 points on a given night, and they all currently average double figures: Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller, and Norchad Omier.

Pack was one of the most coveted prospects in the transfer portal this offseason and made massive headlines with his NIL deal once he joined the Hurricanes. He averaged 17.4 points per game last season with Kansas State, which is a bit higher than his average this year. Part of that is simply the fact that he’s on a more talented team this year with the Hurricanes. They’ve got multiple weapons that can explode on any given night.

Miami will have several days to rest up before facing the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday, in a showdown of two of the top teams in the ACC. Pittsburgh had 14 home wins this season, the most they’ve had since the 2015-2016 campaign. That’s the last year they played in the NCAA Tournament.