What did Jim Larranaga say after Miami Hurricanes loss to Loyola?

All season long Larranaga has spoken about his team’s need to share the ball. He has frequently mentioned that the Hurricanes magic number in assists to win in 16. Miami was 14-1 this season when they had 14 or more assists. Loyola did a much better job sharing the ball on Thursday then Miami did. Coach L praised the Ramblers.

"“The biggest statistic that separated us is they had 19 assists. We only had 11. They found the open man a little bit more than we did, despite the fact that we shot 51 percent from the field, better than their 47, and 44 percent from three better than their 38.”"

Miami’s free throw shooting plagued them all season. Miami shot 66.2 percent from the free throw line this season. That was 332nd in Division I. Larranaga discussed the free throw shooting by both teams.

"“Neither one of us shot well from the foul line. We shot 61 percent. They shot 44 percent. When I look at those numbers, I think to myself, we probably would have won the game, but we didn’t. They made the last big play.”"

Miami’s loss to Loyola was their second straight year that Miami Hurricanes were ousted in the first round. Larranaga was asked where the state of the program is after the second consecutive early exit.

"“I thought these guys did a great job this year. When we started the season, we had five freshmen and four sophomores, only one senior. It was a very young group. Just to make it to the big dance I thought was a tremendous accomplishment…"