Coach Jim Larrañaga on Historic Run at Miami
In Miami basketball's 61-year history, it has five Sweet 16 appearances. In the last 12 years, Miami has made four of those five appearances.
Last season, Miami made it to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. The Hurricanes blew a halftime lead to Kansas and lost the game, 76-50.
This season, the Hurricanes made it to the Elite Eight again. It is the first time in Miami's history that it has appeared in back-to-back Elite Eights; Another historic accomplishment for the program. It has all been done under coach Jim Larrañaga.
On Saturday, leading up to Miami's Elite Eight matchup with the Texas Longhorns, ESPN analytics released the title chances of all eight teams.
Texas had a 31% chance to win the national title, the highest of any remaining team. Miami had a 3% chance, the lowest of any remaining team.
Shortly after 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the team with the lowest chance to win a national championship defeated the team with the highest chance. No. 4 Miami continued to make history with its first Final Four appearance in program history with a 88-81 victory over the No. 2 Longhorns.
Another chance to make history almost fell out of the Canes' grasp as Miami had to overcome a 13-point deficit in the second half. For two starters, Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller, shades of another Elite Eight exit were on the horizon. Except for this time, the roles at halftime were flipped.
Last year, Miami held the lead at the half. This year, Miami trailed. Larrañaga said he told his team to do what Kansas did last year: turn it up in the second half.
"I told the guys at halftime, 'Hey, this is very much like the Kansas game,'" Larrañaga said. "'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 10 minutes of the game, our defense, our rebounding, our scoring, is just at such a high level."
It wasn't just high-level basketball that helped propel the Hurricanes to history, it was chemistry. The Hurricanes are a close-knit and experienced group. The group knows how to succeed together, even when a starter isn't on the court.
During timeouts, Larrañaga has a stool he sits on with his team as they gameplan. Late in the game, Larrañaga had his coach's stool taken by one of his athletes.
"When I was finished meeting with my coaches, I turn, and there were the five guys that were in the game, and Norchad (Omier) is sitting In my chair telling them what to do," Larrañaga said.
A message that Larrañaga has preached to his team was echoed back to him when he reminded his team of the score.
"I tell the players all the time during games, whether you're ahead or behind, don't play the score, play the game," Larrañaga said. "But we had come so far back, we were only down four and I wanted the players to know, 'Hey, now the game is really on the line.' I said, 'Look at the score.' I turn back to the team and Wooga (Poplar) said, 'We don't play the score, we play the game.'"
Miami has defeated the No. 4, No. 2 and No. 1-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament. Miami was also unfavored in every one of those games.
Miami will face No. 4 UConn on April 1 for a shot to play in the national championship game.
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