Walker: ‘I take responsibility’
DALLAS — In this season under the microscope, Lonnie Walker IV made clutch plays. He sank Boston College with 2.3 seconds left. He hit an acrobatic layup to force overtime against Louisville.
The heralded freshman from Reading, Pennsylvania, one of the highest-profile recruits Miami has ever landed, had a good year. At times, he was great.
Not so in the final minute of sixth-seeded UM’s first-round 64-62 loss to 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago. His untimely turnover, his foul while defending and his missed free throw that bounced and rolled around the rim for what seemed like an eternity — Walker had the ball in his hands, and the Hurricanes couldn’t hang on.
“It definitely hurts. Definitely hurts. The ball went their way. There’s no true excuse or explanation or anything to say. I didn’t knock down the final shot. Game over,” he said. “I definitely take responsibility. That’s what comes with being a good player. I had a turnover and a foul, and I missed the free throw. Definitely a learning experience.”
Fellow freshman Chris Lykes, the Hurricanes’ point guard of the future with Ja’Quan Newton graduating, wouldn’t let Walker’s head drop.
“The kid hit a big shot,” he said of Donte Ingram’s winner. “We didn’t play that well, but down the stretch, we got some stops. We can’t blame it on Lonnie’s free throw. There were so many things throughout the game we could have done better. To blame it on Lonnie’s free throw is stupid.”
Canes coach Jim Larranaga didn’t think Walker’s closing stretch was the difference.
“I thought the biggest statistic that separated us is they had 19 assists,” he said. “We only had 11. They found the open man a little bit more than we did, despite the fact that we shot 51 percent from the field, better than their 47, and 44 percent from three, better than their 38. And neither one of us shot well from the foul line. We shot 61 percent. They shot 44 percent.
“When I look at those numbers, I think to myself, we probably would have won the game, but we didn’t. They made the last big play.”