Here's What Miami Coach Jim Larranaga Said About Indiana, Big Ten on Saturday
ALBANY, N.Y. — Miami doesn't have a lot of basketball history, certainly not compared to the five-banner greatness at Indiana. But the Hurricanes have been very good lately, making an Elite Eight run a year ago and sharing an ACC regular-season title this year with Virginia.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga has a 26-7 team capable of making another run thanks to a talented backcourt. It's Indiana that stands in the way when the two teams collide on Sunday night in the second round of the Midwest regional at MVP Arena in Albany.
Larranaga met with the media on Saturday afternoon to talk about the game. Here's the best of what he had to say:
— on Indiana All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis:
"He's great. He's a first-team All-American. Obviously he's earned that by averaging a double-double, scoring in an assortment of ways, helping his teammates play well. He's just a great player.
— on the challenge of deciding when and how to double-team him:
"Yeah, you have to debate that. I've watched tape on what other teams have tried to do. He's an outstanding passer. I think he's averaging like six assists a game. He's a great rebounder. He's averaging double-figure rebounds. He's averaging 20 or more points in the tournament. I think in his last few games he's averaging 25. So he's a great player. As a coach who has to defend him, we've got to have plan A, plan B, and plan C. So we're going to be doing that. We did a little bit this morning with the team. We'll do it again tonight and then (Sunday) at our shootaround.
— on the ACC being disrespected nationally this year:
"I'm disappointed that the ACC is not given the respect I think it's due. I think we've got a great league. We had the preseason No. 1 team in the country in North Carolina. They did not have the year that people expected them to have, but they're still pretty darn good, so is Duke, so is Virginia. We've got a lot of good teams. This has nothing to do with our game (Sunday) against Indiana, but if you go back to November, early December, the ACC won the ACC-Big Ten Challenge 8-6. So I think the leagues are very comparable. Hopefully we'll play well (Sunday) and represent the ACC very well.''
— on pace of play and winning with defense and rebounding:
"No, I don't think that way at all. I believe that our best offense is transition. Indiana likes to run, we like to run. If you look at our stats, even without Norchad Omier, we scored 78 points against a very fine defensive Duke team a week ago. Is it a week? Eight days ago. So I believe our guys are very, very capable of running against anybody in the country. The whole key is we want to run, we want to keep them from running. We want to slow them down and force them to play a half-court game at one end while we get out in transition at the other end.''
— on his relationship, if any, with Indiana coach Mike Woodson:
"(I don't know him), not personally, not professionally. We haven't competed against each other. But obviously I know him first as a player, as a fantastic player at Indiana, terrific NBA player, terrific NBA coach. When he was with the Knicks, my son Jay, who's now with the Los Angeles Clippers, he was with the Knicks organization for a while. I don't know how well they know each other either, but we obviously have a tremendous amount of respect for him and his staff and look forward to competing and getting to know him.''
— on what stands out about Indiana freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino and the rest of Indiana's guards?
"Jalen, I tried to recruit him. I loved his game. He's 6-foot-6. He plays the point. He can score off the bounce. He can shoot the three. He uses ball screens very effectively. He's just a very good big guard, Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten, and he's just much bigger than our guards. So he'll be a handful for us (on Sunday).''
Miami Hurricanes head coach Jim Larranaga speaks to the press during first round practice at MVP Arena. (David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports)
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- GAME STORY: Race Thompson doesn't have much of a postseason resume for Indiana, but he rewrote it on Friday night, scoring 20 points to lead Indiana to a 71-60 victory over Kent State in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE
- SUNDAY START TIME: Indiana doesn't mind playing late at night, and that's a good thing because they'll be back at it on Sunday night, taking on Miami after hours in their second-round NCAA Tournament matchup. CLICK HERE
- HEADBAND HILARITY: Indiana forward Miller Kopp has played in more than 150 college games and he's never worn a headband — until Friday night. He rocked the gear during the Hoosiers' NCAA Tournament win over Kent State and said it's here to stay now, and will probably wind up in his NIL store soon. CLICK HERE
- PHOTO GALLERY: Here are the best pictures from Indiana's game with Kent State on Friday night. CLICK HERE
- WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS' BLOCK: Indiana gained some momentum heading into halftime against Kent State with a huge block from Trayce Jackson-Davis off the backboard. CLICK HERE
- WATCH HOOD-SCHIFINO'S DUNK: Indiana freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino was too quick for the Kent State defense on this play, darting his way through the lane for an easy dunk. CLICK HERE
- WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS' VICIOUS DUNK: After a slick bounce pass from Jalen Hood-Schifino, Trayce Jackson-Davis slammed home a huge dunk against Kent State in the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE
