Jai Lucas reveals the critical "separator" that powered the Miami Hurricanes' upset over the North Carolina Tar Heels, highlighting ball security and dominant rebounding.
The Miami Hurricanes men's basketball squad secured a much-needed 75-66 victory over the 11th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. Coach Jai Lucas and the team have found success throughout the regular season, but needed a standout win to boost the NCAA Tournament resume. They will have a few more Quadurant 1 opponents to make a further push.
Coach Lucas shared after the game what was the most important factor in pulling off such a major win.
"The game was going to be won on the glass and taking care of the ball," he said. "We really took care of the ball today and that was the separator. It's the thing I was saying all week, and been [telling] the team: everything that has gone bad for us has been self-inflicted."
"We took care of the ball, competed on the glass, and kept battling."
Coach Lucas mentioned how the losses against the California Golden Bears and Florida State Seminoles were due to turnovers. The Hurricanes committed 24 total turnovers from both matchups, which led to 27 points. The team only lost by a combined three points, which shows how the little things impact the results.
The Hurricanes committed just eight turnovers against the Tar Heels, resulting in seven points.
Coach Lucas pointed out how even in victories, such as against the Syracuse Orange and Boston College Eagles, turnovers made things more difficult for themselves.
For the fourth time this season, the Hurricanes had at least two players finish with a double-double in the same game: Senior center Ernest Udeh Jr. scored a new season high of 15 points on 87.5 percent shooting, 10 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in 34 minutes. Alongside him, senior forward Malik Reneau had 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and three steals in 34 minutes.
The Hurricanes' frontcourt was far superior to the Tar Heels. They held freshman Caleb Wilson to a new season-low 12 points on 40 percent shooting. Coach Lucas shared the game plan against the projected lottery draft selection.
"Just give him as many looks as possible," he added. "We trapped him, went zone on his catches, we just did a bunch of different things to confuse him. We wanted to put him in a bunch of the actions on the other end to wear him out."
Peaking at the right moment is important for every competitive team, and for the Hurricanes, defeating the Tar Heels could be what gets them over the hump the rest of the season.
Join the Community! Don't miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news! It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our RoundTable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!
More Miami Hurricanes News: