ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2023

Jim Larranaga

Isaiah Wong

Jordan Miller

Miami Hurricanes

Postgame Press Conference

Duke 85, Miami 78

JIM LARRANAGA: Credit has to go to Duke's players, their ability to make those threes and dominate the back boards. They are very big, much bigger than us, and they played really well. 28 for 51 from the field, 8 for 16 from the three-point line and 21 for 25. Yet these guys did a fantastic job of keeping us in the game right until the bitter end and gave ourselves a chance. If we could have forced a turnover or made one or two additional shots, it could have been a different outcome.

We've got to move on, go back home and regroup.

Q. Coach, any update on how Norchad is doing?

JIM LARRANAGA: No, he wasn't able to play today. He sprained his ankle. It's not broken, so we'll just see day-to-day.

Q. I noticed 50 percent from three for Duke. I think that's the best you've allowed an opponent to shoot all season. Was that more about what they were doing or what you were doing or a little bit of both?

JIM LARRANAGA: No, I'd say they shot really good threes and made them. How many different guys hit them? One for two, one for two, one for three, three for five, two for three. That's a lot of different guys making them.

You have to understand, because of our size, or lack of it, we're trying to take care of the paint and keep those big guys out of there. Very difficult for us to do both all the time. We did it well enough to stay in the game, but basically just not quite good enough to win the game.

Q. How do you think you guys sort of grinded through the game without Norchad and trying to sort of overcome being shorthanded like you were?

ISAIAH WONG: I'd say without Norchad, I feel like Anthony and AJ they played a great game. They played with their best effort and they gave their best effort to get the rebounds and play hard and with effort. We just came up short, I feel like, but it was a great help from both of them.

JORDAN MILLER: Losing a starter, any team is going to hurt, but like Isaiah said, Anthony and AJ really picked it up. Regardless, we have to find a way to come out with this victory. We didn't. All credit to Duke. They shot the ball really well, and we've just got to bounce back.

Q. Duke has been turnover prone, especially at Miami, and they had eight turnovers in the first half, which really hurt them. They managed to keep it to four turnovers in the second half. Thoughts about what they did differently.

JIM LARRANAGA: Honestly, we tried to force more turnovers, and they did a good job of handling our pressure. We tried it full course, we tried it when they ran ball screens, we tried it on out of bounds. Some of what happens in the game of basketball is players recognize what the heck is going on. Our players did and really pulled together. Their players did, as well, and they really found the open man. They had 16 assists and 12 turnovers, so they were still sharing the ball very well.

You don't make those kind of threes unless the ball is zipping around and no one is holding on to it too long, and they did a great job of finding the open man. That guy did a great job of hitting the open shot.