Tag: Miami Basketball

Miami ends Texas’ NCAA Tournament run, wins 87-81

A lackadaisical effort ends a terrific season for Texas basketball.

Miami is going to the Final Four. They do so at the expense of the Texas Longhorns.

Texas had an abhorrent day on both sides of the ball with lackadaisical ball security and low intelligence defensive play. Longhorn players got lulled to sleep defensively and Miami made them pay.

The Longhorns held as much as a 13-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. From there, the team posted the most passive second half performance of the year.

Miami outscored Texas by 20 points in the final 12:37 of the game. Hurricanes guard Jordan Miller shot a scorching 7-for-7 from the field plus 13-of-13 from the free throw line to allow for consistent scoring. From there, Hurricanes star guard Isaiah Wong closed out the game.

In a rare occurrence, Texas head coach Rodney Terry got out-coached by his counterpart, Jim Larranaga. With that, the Longhorns’ impressive 2022-23 basketball season comes to an end.

Texas finishes with a 29-9 record on the year. Miami advances to face the Connecticut Huskies in the Final Four.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz52bnpekkafqb player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

LOOK: Texas HC Steve Sarkisian in Kansas City for Elite Eight game

Steve Sarkisian is in attendance for the Elite Eight game.

Texas Longhorns head football coach Steve Sarkisian is in the house for No. 2 Texas vs No. 5 Miami. He will look to root the team on to its first Final Four appearance since 2003.

Sarkisian was seen with University of Texas President Jay Hartzell and Athletic Director Chris Del Conte ahead of one of the biggest basketball games in program history. He’ll hope the program can see the same result former Texas head coach Tom Herman saw for his new school, Florida Atlantic.

Head basketball coach Rodney Terry has a tremendous opportunity against the Hurricanes. The winner of the game enters a Final Four that includes San Diego State and Florida Atlantic. One of those two smaller schools will play in the National Championship game.

Texas is the only top three seed remaining after the No. 4 Connecticut Huskies defeated No. 3 Gonzaga Saturday night. The scenario is a golden opportunity for the Longhorns to push for a first ever national title in men’s basketball.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz52bnpekkafqb player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

WATCH: Texas basketball releases hype video ahead of Elite Eight game

“We’re going to do it with a great attitude, a great approach, and we’re going to be excited about still competing.”

No. 2 Texas is hours away from facing No. 5 Miami in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Continue reading “WATCH: Texas basketball releases hype video ahead of Elite Eight game”

How to watch No. 2 Texas vs No. 5 Miami in the Elite Eight

Texas is searching for the schools first national title in men’s basketball.

Texas is still dancing in the NCAA Tournament. Continue reading “How to watch No. 2 Texas vs No. 5 Miami in the Elite Eight”

Miami players got stuck in an elevator and somehow that fiasco helped them upset Houston

Miami players getting stuck in an elevator might’ve led to Houston being sent packing.

The Miami men’s basketball team somehow turned getting stuck into an elevator into a game-changing defensive strategy for the 2023 men’s NCAA tournament.

After his No. 5 Hurricanes dominated No. 1 Houston in the Sweet 16, 89-75, Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga detailed how an elevator breakdown might’ve helped the team even more than a film breakdown.

Larrañaga explained on Thursday, 12 Miami players got stuck in an elevator after the team’s defensive-centric meeting. After 30 minutes of being trapped, the Miami players were rescued by firefighters.

Somehow, the team got inspiration from that claustrophobic experience to play lockdown defense against one of the best teams in the country in top-seeded Houston.

“You guys got to be in the paint like you were in the elevator yesterday,” Larrañaga told his team during Friday’s shootaround to fix a stretched-out defense. “And they did that.”

Talk about making lemonade out of lemons.

It’s one thing to play a good game after such an uncomfortable fiasco. It’s another to actually have getting stuck in an elevator power you to a men’s NCAA tournament win against a No. 1 seed.

Jim Larrañaga celebrated Miami’s huge upset over Houston with the sweetest dance moves

Jim Larrañaga is such a legend.

Miami basketball coach Jim Larrañaga has led the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight for the second season in a row, and he has reason to celebrate.

Nijel Pack (8-12 FG, 7-10 3P) scored 26 points while Isaiah Wong (5-11 FG, 1-2 3P) added 20 points during the win. Now, after convincingly defeating Houston, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, the Hurricanes have excellent momentum and will advance for another round of March Madness.

The vibes are high, too, as Larrañaga enjoyed a fun postgame exchange in the locker room with his team. Watch as the 73-year-old former Naismith College Coach of the Year showed off some delightful dance moves in front of his team:

This isn’t the first example of Larrañaga, who trolled Charles Barkley after leading Miami to the Sweet 16 last season, having fun on the dance floor.

We’ve seen Larrañaga share some classic celebration dances for years.

More than seven years ago, we got to watch him as he learned how to whip and how to nae nae. If his team is able to advance another round and win in the Elite Eight, who knows what kind of dancing we can see next!

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5x3v4hcz7e10g image=]

[lawrence-related id=1865888,1862805,542059,663889]

UNC ‘stressed the hell out’ about tournament chances with limited opportunities remaining

The UNC basketball program is ‘stressed the hell out’ about its tournament chances after Monday’s loss to Miami.

The chances are running out for the UNC basketball program to add to its NCAA Tournament resume after another inconsistent performance in Monday’s loss to No. 15 Miami.

The Tar Heels (16-10, 8-7) are currently ninth in the ACC and have zero quad one wins to its resume. The preseason No. 1 ranked team and ACC favorites are a far cry from the team that had a double-digit lead in the 2022 National Championship Game.

“Oh, I’m stressed the hell out,” Armando Bacot said postgame about UNC’s tournament chances. “I want to get back to the NCAA Tournament. That’s all our goal. I mean, this would have never even crossed my mind. But yeah, on a level of worried, I’m 100-percent worried.”

North Carolina has now lost four of its last five after winning 10 of the previous 12 games.
The inconsistencies with this team continue to be the only consistent theme this season. After a 20-point win over Clemson — a team that was tied for first in the ACC — on Saturday and down just one-point at halftime against Miami, the second half brought out some of the same issues that have plagued the Tar Heels in February.
A 19-6 run to open up the second half for Miami was a flashback to the UNC team that was lacking energy, toughness and enthusiasm — three aspects to the game that head coach Hubert Davis has stressed in his nearly two years on the bench.
“Well, in parts of our game, as a team, there is inconsistency. And so, you’re right,” Davis said. “… In order to be successful, one, you’ve got to be good. And then I think number two is you’ve got to be consistent, whether it’s an individual player or as a team. Those are two traits, two boxes that you have to check. And consistency at times has been an issue for us this year.”
The Tar Heels have now a must-win game nearly every time out with their five remaining regular season games.
It begins on Sunday at No. 23 NC State.
“We know,” Bacot said. “We all know. Everybody in the building knows what’s at stake…  It’s just tough, it has been all year. This is not how any of us wanted it to go, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves, and we’ve got to figure out something.”
[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdcv0v20j1dne5g player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Jim Boeheim tried and failed to walk back his disrespectful comments about 3 other ACC teams

What a WEAK statement with no apology!

Jim Boeheim continues to dig his hole deeper and deeper.

A recent story with ESPN saw the Syracuse Men’s Basketball head coach talking about his future and, perhaps more notably, the state of college basketball on the whole. As concepts like NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals grow in popularity in college sports, the 78-year Boeheim showed he wasn’t a fan of their use.

The coach took it a step way too far in explicitly saying that programs like Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, and Miami all “bought” their teams, thanks in part to NIL deals. Woof, yeah, it’s not a great look:

“This is an awful place we’re in in college basketball,” Boeheim said. “Pittsburgh bought a team. OK, fine. My [big donor] talks about it, but he doesn’t give anyone any money. Nothing. Not one guy. Our guys make like $20,000. Wake Forest bought a team. Miami bought a team. … It’s like, ‘Really, this is where we are?’ That’s really where we are, and it’s only going to get worse.”

Does Boeheim have any citations to back up his disrespectful comments, or is he just upset that recruiting is now potentially more challenging?

This was how Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes responded to Boeheim’s out-of-line comments:

In the wake of Boeheim drawing heaps of criticism for his thoughts, the coach would issue a statement on Monday morning. It was both not an apology and Boeheim trying (emphasis: trying) to meekly walk back what he said:

Imply? There was no implication there! Boeheim’s were, again, explicit! What is he trying to pull here? The cat’s already out of the bag.

This is a situation where Boeheim might only find himself coming under more fire as time goes on. For example, ACC coaches do a media call every Monday. In other words, stay tuned.

Jim Larrañaga immediately trolled Charles Barkley after Miami’s dominant win over Auburn

Charles can’t seem to win, can he?

Life can’t get it much better for Miami Men’s head basketball coach, Jim Larrañaga. As the respected leader of the Hurricane program for over 11 years now, Larrañaga has brought stability and (occasional) excellence to Miami.

On top of that, I don’t mean to digress:  He lives in Miami! Eternal sunshine and beautiful weather by the beach year-round! It genuinely hurts to be this jealous.

Another place where you might be envious of Larrañaga is his program’s ongoing success during this year’s March Madness. After dismantling No. 2 Auburn (+6.5 favorites) 79-61 and humiliating their prized talisman in the process, you can forgive Larrañaga if he’s proud of his players.

It’s not often you win wire to wire over a No. 2 seed.

Next weekend will have been the first time Miami’s played in a Sweet Sixteen since 2016. We’ll cut their coach some appropriate slack.

But with Larrañaga clearly riding on cloud nine after his team’s statement victory, no one was safe from his crosshairs. Not even dancing Auburn legend Charles Barkley.

You see, Barkley had asserted that he’d take his shirt off in the event of a Tiger victory over Larrañaga’s Hurricanes during his studio show. In his postgame comments, it was a moment that the coach was all too happy to share how unhappy he’d be to see Barkley like that.

Ouch. I might suggest a rebuttal if I was in Barkley’s shoes, but that might be opening a larger can of worms and a string of insults down the line.

Larrañaga: 1.

Barkley: 0.

Miami: To the Sweet Sixteen.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

[mm-video type=video id=01fyajemq4wewrts3pn9 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fyajemq4wewrts3pn9/01fyajemq4wewrts3pn9-b504d5d7dfe1f01e21cbfd04d78e5e45.jpg]

[listicle id=1861664]

Isaiah Wong posterized Jabari Smith and college hoops fans went wild

We won’t forget this dunk for a long time.

Few plays are more humiliating than getting dunked on. You can shrug it off when someone makes a tightly-contested shot in your face. Sometimes the hoop does appear larger in real life than in the mirror. If they happen to cross you over in a rather nasty way, at least you still have your bearings.

But to get dunked on? To have your entire defensive mystique as an athlete called into question? To be memorialized in a niche poster? That’s forever, and you don’t forget the overstep.

Auburn’s (-6.5) Jabari Smith is used to making defenders look silly. On Sunday night, during Auburn’s second-round Men’s NCAA tournament matchup with Miami, someone finally returned the favor.

The Hurricanes’ Isaiah Wong.

The crossover. The regathered dribble. The short anticipatory space in time where not even Wong himself knew what was going to happen at the rim, let alone anyone spectating. And a picture-perfect dunk on a likely NBA lottery pick. It doesn’t get any better.

Everyone watching at home agreed. Wong had their full approval.

Look at that angle. I didn’t think the highlight could improve, but here we are.

Maybe “One Shining Moment” doesn’t only have to happen when you cut down the nets?

Wong’s dunk over an elite player was so special it almost even left Miami’s coach, Jim Larrañaga, at a loss for words.

Why yes, the dunk heard around the world this March was quite nice.

For a while on Sunday night, Wong took the greater college basketball community by storm. Get everyone’s jaw to drop with an incredible play, and you one day might be able to do the same.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

[mm-video type=video id=01fyajemq4wewrts3pn9 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fyajemq4wewrts3pn9/01fyajemq4wewrts3pn9-b504d5d7dfe1f01e21cbfd04d78e5e45.jpg]

coll[listicle id=1343664]