Frustrations mount with tourney hopes in jeopardy
The Miami Hurricanes still had 14 minutes to play against Virginia, but veteran coach Jim Larrañaga had seen enough.
After a Norchad Omier turnover led to a Cavaliers alley-oop to put UVA up 40-19, the veteran coach called timeout but decided not to take part in it. ESPN’s cameras showed Larrañaga looking at a laptop on the bench while the team huddled during the second-half timeout.
The struggling Hurricanes (15-8, 6-6 ACC) eventually fell 60-38, scoring their lowest amount of points in a game since the program was reinstated in 1985.
One media member asked Larrañaga “what changed” after Miami went up 7-2 early, and the UM coach gave a blunt answer before leaving the post-game press conference.
“The game,” Larrañaga said. “They just outplayed us in every aspect of the game. We didn’t play well. They played really well.”
Larrañaga’s brief analysis was correct. The Hurricanes shot a season-low 28.6% from the floor, nearly 10% worse than their previous season low. It was their worst shooting percentage since they shot 27.9% in a loss to Louisville on Jan. 7, 2020.
Miami made just 2 of 20 threepoint attempts; the 10% threepoint percentage is the lowest since UM beat USC in the 2022 NCAA Tournament despite making just 1 of 14 three-point shots on March 18, 2022.
The Hurricanes’ offensive woes on Monday night were uncharacteristic of the team’s scoring ability. Miami, which had been averaging 82 points a game prior to the blowout loss, is 65th in the nation with 79 points per game. College basketball analytics site KenPom.com ranks UM 57th in the nation in offensive efficiency.
A year after making the program’s first-ever Final Four, a return to the NCAA Tournament is in jeopardy as Miami faces a tough eight-game stretch to end the year. The Hurricanes’ next task is to face No. 3 North Carolina (18-4) on Saturday.