CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Ernest Udeh Jr. had faith from the start.

It didn’t matter that Miami had struggled to a 7-24 record a season ago, or that head coach Jai Lucas was a first-time head coach, or that Udeh had never played alongside his new teammates.

When the Hurricanes hit the floor together for the first time, Udeh saw potential.

“From the jump, I just had a feeling. Our practices went well. I knew the backgrounds of the guys and where everyone came from,” the senior said. “And I just knew this team had a chance to be special.”

On Sunday, Udeh’s faith was rewarded when he and the Hurricanes learned that the resume they’d put together over the course of the last four months was enough to earn them a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Miami, a No. 7 seed in the tournament, will head to St. Louis where on Friday night, the Hurricanes (25-8) will face 10^th-seeded Missouri in their tournament opener.

It was an announcement that was met with cheers, applause, and plenty of celebrating at a Selection Sunday watch party on Miami’s campus that served as a reminder to even the more experienced coaches and players in the room just how meaningful it is to still be playing in March.

“It puts a lot in perspective. A big part of it was when we went to our open practice at the ACC Tournament [last week], everybody’s pulling their phones out and taking pictures. You’ve got to remember it’s a lot of their first times,” said Lucas, who was a part of seven NCAA Tournament teams during his time as an assistant coach at Texas, Kentucky and Duke before coming to Miami. “It’s one of those experiences that just makes you smile because you understand how big the moment is and it will be the same thing when we get to St. Louis. You take it for granted, but it’s hard to do. For our guys, I want us to just embrace it, and enjoy it, but then also just go out there and attack it and have fun.”

Said Udeh, “I mean, it’s one of those things that, like I said, every kid dreams of, and one of those things that every hooper dreams of and we’re one of the select few that get to be part of it. It’s something special. The band’s downstairs at our hotel, playing. Everyone’s traveling. We’re in a foreign state, a foreign city and we see our fans in our colors in the stands. So, obviously, for me being a senior, and I can speak for Tre [Donaldson] and Malik [Reneau], it means a lot.”

As excited as they are to get their tournament run started, the Hurricanes – who set a new school record this season with their 25 wins – know they’ll face challenges.

Their opponent is playing what is, in essence, a home game, given that the Missouri’s campus is just 219 miles from St. Louis. Tip-off is set for 10:10 p.m. – much later than when Miami is used to playing.

And the Hurricanes have to – quickly – prepare for an opponent that notched regular-season wins over defending national champion Florida and Kentucky this year on its way to a 20-12 overall record and a 10-8 mark in the SEC.

All of that is part of the territory when it comes to playing in the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s a whole new season. You get the opportunity to play against people who don’t know you, different people from different conferences, people who aren’t as familiar with you, so it’s exciting. It’s a new brand of basketball. Everything we did put us in this position, but now, none of it matters. It’s a clean slate. We have to take it game by game and possession by possession.”

While the Hurricanes and Tigers aren’t conference foes who’d have that traditional familiarity with each other, there are a few close ties linking the programs.

Miami associate head coach Charlton Young previously served as the associate head coach at Missouri, where he was a part of two NCAA Tournament teams. Hurricanes sophomore Marcus Allen, who stepped away from basketball in December after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, previously played at Missouri and is still very much a part of the Miami program.

And Lucas coached All-SEC second-team selection Mark Mitchell, who is averaging a team-high 18.3 points for the Tigers this season, at Duke before Mitchell transferred to Missouri.

How much any of that will help the Hurricanes remains to be seen, but Lucas couldn’t help but smile a bit when discussing Friday’s matchup.

“Of course we have some people on staff, and former players from Missouri, so hopefully they can come with some type of scouting report,” he quipped.

Regardless, the Hurricanes expect to spend the next three days preparing for the opportunity ahead and they say they’re determined to make the most of the moment.

They’ve long believed Miami could thrive in March. Now, they say, it’s time to prove it.

“I think we’ve [shown] our resilience and our togetherness,” Donaldson said. “We had goals in the beginning of the year, and we weren’t going to settle just because it was a first-year head coach and a whole new team. We knew what we wanted for ourselves and we chased that and we put ourselves in a position to continue to dance in March.”

Added Udeh, “We understand the work that we put in, the hours that we put in, the ups and downs, going through practice and somebody maybe not making a sprint, or maybe messing up a drill. It’s all worth it. We didn’t come this far just to come this far. Like I’ve said all year long, it’s not really [just] March, but April. That’s why you play this game. That’s why you’re a part of winning programs and [being around] high-character individuals, to win. And our definition of winning is to be playing in April, so that’s what we strive to do.”