Louisville is reeling, but Miami Hurricanes not overlooking Wednesday’s road game
The Louisville Cardinals have lost six games in a row for the first time in 31 years, parted ways with coach Chris Mack a few weeks ago, and don’t have a single player averaging double digits.
But University of Miami coach Jim Larranaga and his Hurricanes are not taking the Wednesday road game at the KFC Yum! Center lightly. The Canes, in a two-way tie for third place in the ACC with a 10-4 conference record, are well aware that conference games have been unpredictable this season.
“Louisville is, physically, one of the most talented teams in the league,” Larranaga said. “Malik Williams is coming back, which gives them a high-quality big guy to go along with (Sydney) Curry and (Jae’Lyn) Withers, so they’ve got up front a three-headed monster. Their guard play, Jarrod West is outstanding and El Ellis, when he’s at the top of his game, makes Louisville hard to guard.”
The Cardinals will be back home for the first time in 15 days.
“They’re back home after being on the road, I think they’ll play with a great deal of passion,” Larranaga said.
As of last week, there were only two places Larranaga had not won a road game with Miami – at Wake Forest and at Louisville. The Canes rallied to beat the Demon Deacons 76-72 on Saturday, and are hoping to pick up another road win on Wednesday.
Although the Hurricanes (18-7) have proven to be a comeback team this season, they prefer to avoid drama, if possible.
“We understand that when we get down like that, all we’ve got to do is put together some stops and score in transition or in half-court and if we do that, we can come back and win,” Moore said. “But it’s not something we’re proud of or we’re looking forward to doing every game because we know we can do it. We’ve got to get better starts, but it’s good to see that we can make those stops and execute offensively in order for us to come back in games and come out with the win.”
Miami’s success has come largely because of its scrambling defense, which has forced 164 turnovers in the past 11 games, including 113 steals. Among the familiar faces on the Cardinals roster is guard Matt Cross, who transferred from UM last season.
“I know it’s not going to be an easy game. I know they’re not doing as well (as usual) this season, but I feel like everybody in the ACC is a good team,” Moore said. “Going into Louisville, playing in their house, they’re going to play extremely hard. They’re going to play to win, so we’ve got to go out there and execute, play Miami basketball and just give 110 percent effort out there.”