Jim Larranaga evaluates play of Norchad Omier, calls for less fouls from Miami

Jim Larranaga led his Miami Hurricanes‘ squads to an 82-78 victory on Monday against the Syracuse Orange. For the Hurricanes, the play of Norchad Omier, along with more defensive discipline in the second half, helped them pull away from the Orange late. Still, in the postgame press conference, Larranaga called on his team, Omier in particular, to play more controlled and limit the fouling in the future.

“Well, Norchad, everybody knows, has tremendous energy, plays the game with such enthusiasm and kind of a reckless abandon,” said Larranaga. “Sometimes that reckless abandon is very positive and helps us, gets the crowd involved. And sometimes, it puts him in foul trouble, sitting on the bench. So, we need to be a little bit better in not fouling.

“In the last several games, we’ve had at least one starter; but today, we had four starters with two fouls in the first half. And that impacts us. It impacts our substitution pattern, and it impacts how we play defense and offense. So, it was good that we were able to overcome that, that fouling from the first half, and still play better defense in the second half.”

Omier was a problem for Syracuse on the boards Monday night. The six-foot-seven sophomore from Nicaragua recorded a double-double on the night with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Omier’s Rebounding on the offensive side of the ball helped the Hurricanes in the second chance points department, allowing them to keep up with and eventually outpace Syracuse.

Up next for Miami is a trip to North Carolina to take on the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday. That game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. CT tip-off time from the Blue Devils’ home of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Larranaga firm on Miami’s offensive goals each game

Miami‘s offense was on point Wednesday night in its 88-72 victory over visiting Boston College in Coral Gables, Fla. The team as a whole shot 60.4% from the field and 66.6% from beyond the 3-point line on 18 attempts. On top of that, Miami accomplished some of their main offensive goals.

“Our goal is to have five guys in double figures every game,” head coach Jim Larranaga said post game. “We want to average 75 points a game or more.”

The start five of Nijel Pack, Isaiah Wong, Wooga Poplar, Jordan Miller, Norchad Omier combined for 64 points with Wong leading the way with a game-high 22. Miller also added 19 points and Omier finished with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.

The lone player among the starters to not score in double figures was Pack, who had just six points. But backup small forward, Harlond Beverly, stepped up in a big way off the bench to the tune of 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting.