Everything Miami Head Coach Jai Lucas said after a Close Victory over Boston College
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The Miami Hurricanes continue to win games they are supposed to, but it doesn't come as easily as they want it.
The Canes get their seventh victory in conference play this season after defeating Boston College on the road 74-68. It was a close game because of the margins almost creeping up on the canes but that didn't change, but they played.
They where a few missed dunks and layups away from a 20-point blowout victory. Head coach Jai Lucas talked about this and more after the game in a short and sweet presser.
On Early Offensive Game Plan Attacking the Paint for Miami...
That's kind of how we are built. The formula is points in the paint. You know we are big and physical, so we have to try to fight for our identity every game. I thought at the start we did a really good job, and us being down some people had some of our guys run out of gas, make subs, and adjust our team. We found it again in the second half, then Boston College did a really good job of adjusting and making a run.
On what Miami did to stop the Eagles from Making a Full Comeback...
You know we have been in this game a lot, especially on the road. You know, you look at our Wake Forest game, it was kind of the same thing. Syracuse was similar, not to the degree, but we've been in that situation. With cal, our losses were the same thing. I think a lot of close games, our team has a lot of confidence at that moment. I thought Boston College did a really good job of just continuing to play.
Like you can tell that they didn't panic, even though they were down ten, and they still executed. We missed a few layups, we missed a few dunks. We missed some things that i though we could stretch it from 10 to 16, which could give us some more cushion, but just our response to it not going great and still winning.
We just started to give different looks. We played a bunch of different zones, and man and switch to do a bunch of things to keep them off rhythms They do a really good job of, and coach [Earl] Grant does a good job of coach Earl Grant knowing what to get to next after the first action doesn't work. So, we had to give them different rhythms and make them think a little bit instead of flow. I though down the stretch that helped and we came up with timely offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds.
On the Turnovers and Free Throws...
I'm worried about us. It hasn't been anybody or something someone else has done to make us look bad. We turned the ball over against Cal and missed free throws and lose by one. Same thing Florida State. If we just can be the best version of ourselves I like us against anybody, Those little things that creep up and get you, and it didn't get us today.
On the Strength of the Conference This Season...
I just think, from my prospective, we have a top two conference in the country. The only conference I think i would put ahead of [the ACC] is the Big 10. Just with Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State, but I beleive that it is right there with the SEC. I don't see why [the ACC] shouldn't have eight, nine, or even 10 teams [in the NCAA Tournament]. I think the league is just that good.
And if you look at Boston College, being in almost every game, you look at the game against Virginia, they are right there. Every team has been in every game. The one team that has seprated themselves has been Duke because they are undefeated, but it goes to show that every team and every coach has made a big jump this year. Roster upgrade, size upgrade, and it's like that all across the league.
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.