Jim Larranaga compares Norchad Omier, Clifford Omoruyi matchup to Sumo wrestlers

Miami ended the ACC/Big Ten Challenge with a bang defeating Rutgers 68-61 in a contest where the Hurricanes were trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half. Wednesday’s game was highlighted by a fantastic one-on-one matchup between two elite big men, Miami’s Norchad Omier and Rutgers’ Clifford Omoruyi. Hurricanes head coach Jim Larranaga spoke about the matchup, and used an interesting analogy to do so.

“That’s like, I’ll use the expression, two Sumo wrestlers there down on the low block, in the paint, wrestling for every inch of the court,” Larranaga said.

The two had a back and forth battle resulting in similar stat lines, with Omoruyi ending the game as the Red Knights leading scorer and rebounder with 16 points and nine rebounds and Omier doing the same for the Hurricanes with 17 points and nine boards.

“And Omoruyi is a big time athlete, incredible length and jumping ability, and I think Norchad played him to a standstill,” Larranaga said. “He’s not as tall, but he’s such a workhorse, he’s a relentless worker.”

Omier did give up four inches of height to Omoruyi in the matchup, as the center from Nigeria towers at 6-foot-11. But Omier’s efficient day from the field helped lift the Hurricanes to victory, as he shot 75% from the field and only missed one of his six free throw attempts.

Omier has been leading the Hurricanes in scoring and rebounding in his debut season with Miami. The Nicaragua native transferred to Coral Gables this offseason from Arkansas State, and hopefully for Miami, he can continue to lead the 7-1 Hurricanes to many more victories this season.

Jim Larranaga calls Miami crowd ‘fantastic’ in Rutgers win

The ACC took down the Big Ten in the annual challenge between the two conferences on the hardwood. Part of the reason why the ACC won is thanks to the Miami Hurricanes, who held up their end of the bargain by taking care of business at home against a pesky Rutgers team.

The Scarlet Knights lost a lot of the core that led them to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, but they had just gotten one of their best players back last night and have a star big man in Cliff Omoruyi, who averages 16 points and 10 rebounds and projected as a bad matchup for Miami’s smaller front line.

Nonetheless, behind strong play from those undersized forwards — Jordan Miller and Norchad Omier, who combined for 34 points and 19 rebounds — along with great crowd support, Miami was able to pull away from Rutgers at home in the second half. After the game, ‘Canes coach Jim Larranaga was quick to praise the fans in the stands for their work that night.

“The crowd was fantastic, wasn’t it?” Larranaga marveled in the postgame presser, noting that even his wife was impressed. “After after the game my wife told me that the fans stood for like the last four or five minutes of the game.”

“That was awesome,” he continued. “And honestly, it’s been building towards that. It shouldn’t be a surprise to us. Now, it should be something we greatly appreciate and are very grateful for, the support we’re getting. The band was great, the cheerleaders, the dance team. We’re really creating a home court advantage. And they really are our sixth man.”

On3’s Alex Weber contributed to this report