Jim Larranaga shares first impressions of Drake

For the sixth time under head coach Jim Larranaga, the Miami Hurricanes have punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Hurricanes found out on Selection Sunday that they secured the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region, and will face the No. 12 seed Drake this Friday.

Ahead of their first round matchup, Larranaga gave his early perception of the Drake Bulldogs.

“Well they’re a great three-point shooting team, and their coach’s son is perhaps their best player,” Larranaga said. “So they’ll be very well prepared, they’ve won 13 out of 14, so you know they’ll play with a tremendous amount of confidence.”

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Drake is led off the court by head coach Darian DeVries and on the court by his son Tucker DeVries. Darian is a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year winner, who led the Bulldogs to an MVC regular season title and an MVC Tournament victory, putting them in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the last three seasons.

His son Tucker has had a stellar season, taking home the Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year trophy this month. He’s averaged 19 points and 5.6 rebounds a game this season for Drake, and led their team in scoring in two of their three conference tournament games.

Drake has an efficient offensive and defensive attack and should not be taken lightly by the Hurricanes, as the two teams tip off Friday at 7:25 p.m. ET on CBS.

Jim Larrañaga reveals message to Miami players

Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga and his Hurricanes team found out their NCAA Tournament future Sunday night. The team is heading to Albany, N.Y., to face off with Drake in first round of the tournament.

Miami is in the Midwest Region, which is headlined by No. 1 seed Houston. Miami is the No. 5 seed in the region, which also features ACC foe Pittsburgh. The Panthers are playing in a First Four game against Mississippi State to try and earn an invitation to the main draw of the Big Dance.

With his team having just a few days to get ready for the Bulldogs, Larrañaga relayed his message to his team to the media on Sunday.

“The message was they should start reviewing anything on the internet about Drake and try to familiarize themselves, told them that we’re going to practice tomorrow at noon, to get their rest and nutrition and be ready to go,” Larrañaga said.

On3’s Peter Warren contributed to this report