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With A Tough Month Of Basketball Ahead For The Hurricanes The Message Is Simple: Win

Head Coach Jim Larrañaga and Players Nijel Pack and Paul Djobet Spoke With The Media Ahead Of Their Matchup Against Virginia Tech

Liam Willerup

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With five Quad 1 win opportunities for the Miami Hurricanes in the month of February across four home and four away games the message was simple by Jim Larrañaga: Win.

As Miami has battled injuries throughout the season dating back to Wooga Poplar missing the exhibition game, Coach Larrañaga shared that Thursday's practice had a "full compliment of players" with Matthew Cleveland practicing. Cleveland has been nursing a hip injury that has kept him out of Miami's last two contests.

With those lingering injuries, Miami has only had a healthy starting lineup in two of the last five games. Now with Kyshawn George moving into the starting lineup over Bensley Jospeh, Miami has added freshman forward Paul Djobet to the rotation.

Across his first two games in the rotation during ACC play, Djobet has led the team in plus/minus in both contests including a +13 performance against Pitt. Coach Larrañaga shared that Djobet has been helping out on the scout team this season, but had to miss in order to attend today's media availability. He's also appreciated his effort on the court and says the team appreciates it as well.

When Djobet was asked about being a contributor to this rotation, he spoke about playing hard, getting his teammates open shots, defending and rebounding. In 42 minutes of play across the last two games, Djobet has put up four points, eight rebounds and two assists. While the stats don't stand out, the eye test shows that he's making a difference.

One of the hottest players on the team right now is Nijel Pack, who in his last six games is tied for the team lead in scoring with 17.8 PPG alongside Norchad Omier. While he's been a driving force offensively, he knows that stopping the Hokies' Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor will be the difference in this game. Cattoor missed the previous matchup this season while Pedulla had 33 points.

Tune in tomorrow at noon to see how Pack, Djobet and the rest of the team do as the Miami Hurricanes play host to the Virginia Tech Hokies on ESPN.

2023-24 Miami Hurricanes Basketball Schedule

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Liam Willerup
LIAM WILLERUP

You can find Liam on Twitter @theleftyliam where he shares news on University of Miami basketball and football as well as opinions

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