By Kenneth Cross
The No. 19 Miami Hurricanes continue their movement around the top of the ACC after they took an early 13-1 lead and rolled to an 81-59 rout of the Duke Blue Devils on Monday evening.
Miami played in front of a sold-out Watsco Center, which provided itself as a second entity in being able to win the game.
“Everyone who was at tonight’s game is invited back,” said Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga. “That’s the kind of environment we would like to have every night. The white out, the noise in the arena before the game even began, and the students packed the end zone.”
The ‘Canes had a consistent approach with their domination in scoring 23 points off of 21 Duke turnovers while Norchad Omier led four Hurricanes in double figures with his 17 points and he also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Miami outscored Duke, 24-9, off the offensive glass where the Hurricanes’ rebounding pedigree was a norm in taking a 16-12 advantage on the offensive boards.
“If we can get 16 assists or more, we are going to have a great shot,” explained Hurricanes head coach Jim Larrañaga. “If we can outrebound the opponent, we have got a great shot as well. You combine those and you win the battle of the boards and get 21 assists, you have got a darn good chance of winning the game.”
The athleticism of the Hurricanes in this outing was seen on the boards and also on defense where they forced those 21 turnovers. It was domination in every sense of the word as the ‘Canes orchestrated a 17-7 margin off of the fast break.
“The activity was tremendous,” noted Larrañaga. “We have to be impactful on the ball screen, which we were. We have to clog the lane, which we did and we have to rebound a miss to force a turnover which we did and we have to rebound a miss or force a turnover, which we did.”
Omier stands 6-7, 245, and was unfazed with Duke’s Derek Lively and Kyle Filipowski, who are both over 7-feet tall. The Arkansas State transfer clearly outplayed both throughout the evening with his aggressiveness and work ethic. He even made a pair of three-point shots which solidified his productivity.
Larrañaga discussed the presence of Lively and Filipowski as both are considered first round draft choices that Omier outrebounded, outscored, and outplayed the Duke duo throughout the evening.
“You have to understand how it is to be 6-7 and go against two seven-footers who are first round draft picks,” said Larrañaga. “These guys are going to get drafted whenever they are going to turn pro.”
Omier and Isaiah Wong were the bookends on that initial 13-1 run for the Hurricanes as Wong’s three at 17:07 provided that 13-1 advantage. Wong and Jordan Miller were able to initiate a 6-0 sprint that push Miami ahead 34-17 before leading 40-26 at halftime as Omier added a dunk.
“The advancement of his game offensively and defensively has been tremendous,” Larrañaga said of Omier. “To be honest, he is just scratching the surface. He has got such a high ceiling. When you have his kind of athletic ability the sky is the limit.”
Wooga Poplar once again had a solid evening as he was 6-of-8 from the floor with 14 points. He started each half with a three-pointer as Miami pushed Duke to start those halve. Poplar hit a triple in a 9-0 run to start the second half as Miami enjoyed a 49-26 lead just three minutes in.
“Wooga is a tremendous athlete with tremendous shooting touch,” Larrañaga commented. “This guy is above everybody (on his leap) and can dunk the ball above everyone.”
Larrañaga discussed how he had coached Poplar to take his shooting prowess to the next level.
“I have told him, you have to shoot the pull up,” Larrañaga said. “His game will be based on 15-foot jumpers off the bounce; not 5 dribbles; not 10, but one or two. He is having success and what happens when you enjoy success? Your confidence grows.”
As Miami goes down the stretch, the Hurricanes are one back in the loss column to Virginia, Clemson, and Pitt who are all tied for first place.
The athleticism and level of play of this Hurricanes team can lift it deep into March.
“When all these guys came in July as our freshmen and transfers, they just worked so hard and built great relationships on and off the court,” noted Larranaga. “That bonding oftentimes leads to the chemistry you are seeing now on and off the court.”