Jim Larrañaga pleased with first-half execution as Miami leads Houston at break

Miami took a 42-36 lead over No. 1 seeded Houston in to the half during the respective teams Sweet Sixteen matchup on Friday night. And the Hurricanes head coach, Jim Larrañaga, was pleased with the overall performance from his team.

The Cougars hound teams defensively and love to attack the rim with kickouts to shooters on offense. But the Hurricanes racked up 42 first-half points against the second-best scoring defense in the country, which allows just a shade over 56 points per game, and shutdown looks at the rim.

“Yeah, we did a good job. They made some really nice 3s, and that’s a challenge for us. And we’re trying to keep away the twos, you’re going to give something up,” Larrañaga said to sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson right before the half. “But I’m happy with the way we defended them, rebounded with them. And we executed pretty well on offense.”

At the half, Houston has a better shooting percentage from 3 (7-for-17 or 41.2%) than it does from inside the arc (12-for-30 or 40%). The Cougars also have four turnovers the Hurricanes none.

To boot, Miami has been blistering from deep like the Cougars, making 6-for-14 (42.9%) but while also making a lot more shots around the rim. Miami went 15-for-32 on twos in the first half (46.9%).

For Larrañaga, this is all about Miami sticking to the game plan. He explained as much to Wolfson earlier in the first half.

If Miami plays to its strengths better than Houston does its own, Larrañaga seems confident they can get the win.

“Well I think that’s the whole key. We gotta execute our game plan better than they execute their game plan. So, so far it’s a great battle,” Larrañaga said with his squad holding a 36-31 lead, at the time.

The task of slowing down Miami’s offense wasn’t a secret to Houston, as Cougars guard Jamal Shead explained ahead of the game.

“They’re really good at what they do,” pointed out Shead. “They’re a really good offensive team. Everybody on their team can score the ball in a variety of ways. They can really shoot the ball. Like I said, they’re a really good offensive team. They offensive rebound. They get out and run.”

“Everything that they do? They do it at a good pace,” Shead said. “And they know how to play with each other. They play well together.”