Jim Larranaga reveals key to comeback against Texas

The Miami Hurricanes are heading to the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Miami trailed by as many as 13 to Texas in the Elite Eight on Sunday night, but Jim Larranaga’s squad ultimately prevailed.

Following the game, and the ensuing on-court celebration, Larranaga broke down the biggest factor that allowed Miami to come back against Texas.

To him, a lot of the comeback had to do with staying out of foul trouble.

“I think last year we got in very serious foul trouble. Jordan (Miller) got in foul trouble. Sam Waardenburg got in foul trouble. I think they both ended up fouling out,” Larranaga said. “And we missed a couple of key opportunities in the second half that might have kept us in longer and given us a chance to do what we did today.”

Texas carried a 45-37 lead into halftime, but Miami wasn’t done yet. The Hurricanes came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, which is exactly what Larranaga wanted to see.

He tied it back to last season’s Elite Eight matchup against Kansas, where Miami led 35-29 at halftime before the Jayhawks outscored the Hurricanes 47-15 in the second half to move on.

“So I told the guys at halftime, hey, this is very much like the Kansas game,” added Larranaga. “We’re behind. They came out and took control of the game, and that’s what we need to do.

“Even though it took us a little longer to do it, if you watch the last ten minutes of the game, our defense, our rebounding, our scoring is at just such a high level.”

Like Larranaga wanted, Miami learned from last year’s Elite Eight loss and ended up on the right side of this one. Norchad Omier did end up with four fouls while Wooga Poplar and Jordan Miller each had three. But none of them fouled out, and stayed on the court and available for the stretch run.

Miller led the way scoring-wise with 27 points, but each of Miami’s five starters scored in double figures. Poplar had 16, Nijel Pack had 15, Isaiah Wong had 14 and Omier had 11. Miami ultimately won 88-81.

The Hurricanes are now onto the Final Four to face UConn. Tip-off is set for 8:49 p.m. ET on Saturday night with a trip to the national championship game on the line. San Diego State and Florida Atlantic meet in the other Final Four matchup on Saturday.