Jim Larranaga satisfied with balanced offense, rebounding effort

Miami just bookended a seven-game winning streak with a pair of victories over Virginia Tech, with the latest win coming in Blacksburg this week. The ‘Canes outlasted VT at home in a 92-83 barnburner on the final day of January, but Tuesday’s contest was much lower scoring as Jim Larranaga’s group rode a terrific effort on the glass to a 76-70 triumph.

Miami was particularly excellent rebounding their own misses vs. the Hokies, grabbing roughly 37% of their own misses — 14 offensive boards to just seven for the other side, finishing with an eight-rebound advantage in the victory. After the game, Coach Larranaga pointed to the advantage on the glass as a primary reason for the win. Specifically, rebounding machine Norchad Omier was mainly to thank for his 14 total rebounds, which included six on the offensive end.

“Norchad Omier…he’s a hell of an offensive rebounder,” said Larranaga. “And other guys chipped in. Jordan Miller’s a very good offensive rebounder, Wooga Poplar got one, and I think Isaiah (Wong) got one. We had guys just chip in. Bensley Joseph had a huge one. I thought Jordan Miller was going to hit the 3, (Joseph) got the rebound and kicked it right out and Jordan and had a rhythm 3, just missed. But we have pretty good balance. We had five guys in double figures and another guy with seven—that’s good balance in our offense.”

A dominant night on the offensive glass meant extra opportunities for the Hurricanes, who were able to find open shooters on the perimeter on several of their second chances.

Oddly enough, Jim Larranaga was sort of surprised by his team’s effort on the boards considering what he judged as a lack of intensity at practice the day before. However, the ‘Canes snapped into focus pretty quickly once the actual action began.

“It’s funny. As I said we didn’t have a lot of energy at practice yesterday, the mental side of preparing and how we wanted to guard, the guys picked it up. I thought we defended them correctly. There was one play they hurt us on, which was that cross screen where they got some layups on us early. Our guys adjusted and we didn’t give up as many.”

Lastly, the Miami head coach explained that both teams shot the ball worse than they did during their meeting earlier in the season, but it was ultimately his side that survived a colder night from the floor.

“When two teams are as talented offensively as they are and we are it really comes down to the best night shooting or I should say, who has the best night defending shooters. I don’t know what we shot from 3, we were 7 for 22, not what we normally shoot, but we made enough, they made 9 of 27 so we both basically shot 33 percent. Both teams are better 3-point shooters than that.”

When neither team was shooting lights out, it was Miami who pivoted to controlling the glass in order to win. That’s the mark of a team that hasn’t lost in February right there.