The victory advances Miami to the Elite Eight stage, where the ‘Canes will attempt to reach the Final Four for the first time in the history of the program. The Miami Hurricanes want the collegiate basketball community to know that they came prepared to compete in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
To the joy of his squad, the 73-year-old Miami coach broke moves from the disco period in the locker room on Friday night to celebrate an 89-75 Sweet 16 victory that resulted in the tournament’s final eight teams being devoid of a No. 1 seed for the first time since seeding began in 1979.
Jim Larrañaga felt like dancing after eliminating top-seeded Houston from the NCAA Tournament. After his best victories, Larrañaga is known to dance in the locker room, and his Big Dance victory most certainly fit that description.
“We were all hyped up,” Jordan Miller said. “We love when Coach L dances. That’s 먹튀검증 probably the best celebration we could look forward to.”
“We emphasized moving the ball and finding the open man, and the guys did such a fantastic job from start to finish,” Larrañaga said. “We only ended up with six turnovers. So that’s the name of the game. And we tied them in rebounding. A great performance by our guys.”
The fifth-seeded Hurricanes, who advanced to the Final Eight for the second time in a row, will face either No. 2 seed Texas or No. 3 seed Xavier in the Midwest Region final. Larrañaga is attempting to reach his second Final Four overall and first with Miami after leading George Mason there in 2006 as an 11 seed.
With Miami shooting 50% from the field and 2 of 3 from three, the Hurricanes’ potent offense has dominated Houston’s tenacious defense thus far. With eight points in the first five minutes, UH’s Tramon Mark continued where he left off following a career-night against Auburn in the Round of 32.
Minutes after the top overall seed Alabama lost to San Diego State, the Hurricane’s overwhelming victory of 89-75 eliminated the last No. 1 seed in the men’s tournament. The Miami players, however, denied being taken aback.
Houston was in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in a row. The team had won 15 of its previous 16 games, and its season-long objective was to participate in the Final Four in its home city the following week.
“Unfortunately, one off-night and you go home in this tournament,” Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. “We just never could get a foothold. We kept climbing, and we’d get ahead of them, and then we just couldn’t put stops together.”
Houston, one of the favorites to win the championship, found the evening to be much less fun. The Cougars’ journey to the Final Four would have been particularly memorable because the games were being held in their hometown.
But, when questioned this week about Houston’s chances of success, coach Kelvin Sampson was unexpectedly direct in pointing out his team’s shortcomings. The day before the game, he declared that the Cougars’ top seed wasn’t important. Ignore their 33-3 record, please. He claimed that the season had frequently been difficult and that a strong tournament showing was far from certain.
“The only person’s opinion that matters on that is mine because I coached them all,” he said before the game. “I’d probably have a better feel whether this is the best team or not, and it’s not. This has not been our best team.”
The Cougars and Hurricanes have had injury issues during the NCAA tournament, but they both seem to be in reasonably good health going into their Sweet 16 meeting. Guards Jamal Shead 토토사이트 and Marcus Sasser of Houston have made progress in their recovery from injuries, and Miami’s Wooga Poplar is beginning after missing practice earlier this week due to a back problem.