Jim Larranaga explains how Miami was 'out of character' in loss to UConn

Miami’s offense finally met its match against the UConn defense. Coming into the game, there were questions whether the Hurricanes could stop the Huskies on defense or be able to handle UConn’s mammoth front-court.

Well, in the end, Miami only gave up 72 points, which isn’t a terrible night for them on that side of the ball, especially against a great offense like Connecticut. However, Miami’s own inability to score against UConn’s length ultimately decided the game.

For whatever reason, Miami just didn’t have it offensively on Saturday night, according to head coach Jim Larranaga after the game

“In our team meeting last night, I tried to get the guys to understand that the expression mental is to physical as four is to one, that the mental preparation, mental and emotional, has to be consistent with the way we’ve prepared for every game. And I think they listened, but you could really tell that mentally and emotionally we were not together,” said Larranaga after the loss.

“All season long we’ve been so well-connected, offensively, sharing the ball, being one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country. What did we score today? 59. Is that our low for the season?”

To answer Jim’s question: yes, that is in fact Miami’s season low for points. Meanwhile, their second lowest total also occurred in the tournament when the ‘Canes mustered just 63 points in a win over Drake. But vs. the Huskies, Miami just got pummeled by a bigger, more physical and more athletic squad.

“We were just out of character,” Larranaga added. “And I think the stage that we were playing on was so huge that every guy wanted to play so hard that they forgot how we play, which is really smart. And we didn’t execute what we planned to do at either end of the floor. And Connecticut deserves a lot of credit for that. They were terrific. Three straight 3s. Got (Adama) Sanogo involved early, often. He had like 13 at the half. So we’re trying to figure out at every timeout what to do.”

UConn pounced on top early on and really never let go of the reins, holding about a 10-15 point lead for most of the evening before putting it away late. Even out of halftime, Miami could never kick into gear against a title-bound Huskies club.

“And I think at halftime there was a very clear message, one of our players wrote on the grease board: Share the ball. Because that’s been our message all season long. Then we went out, start the second half, we dribbled one out of bounds. We took a quick shot. It was like — very, very hard.“