Bulldogs, Hurricanes look to top players
Tucker Devries is key man for Drake
University of Miami coach Jim Larrañaga is no stranger to NCAA Tournament success.
In his 12th season at the helm of the Hurricanes, Larrañaga has his team in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time and is a year removed from taking the then No. 10-seeded Canes to the Elite Eight before bowing out of the 2022 tournament to eventual national champion Kansas.
Larrañaga, who guided upstart George Mason to the Final Four in 2006, does not take any trip to the tournament for granted and his team is certainly
not looking past the Drake Bulldogs as the teams are set to meet at 7:25 p.m. Friday in the first round of the Midwest Region at MVP Arena.
“What I’ve shared with the players is, if there’s 68 teams in the tournament, every one of them has earned their way in either by winning their conference tournament and is on a winning streak or has been invited as an at-large team, and only 36 schools get to do that,” Larrañaga said. “So, everybody in the tournament has a really good team.”
Fifth-seeded Miami (25-7) won the ACC regular-season title before losing in the conference semifinals to Duke last weekend while No. 12 seed Drake comes in as Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion and sporting a 27-7 mark.
“We don’t care where we’re seeded,” Larrañaga said. “What we care about is not who we play or where we play, but it’s how we play. We need to play really well. We need to execute our game plan better than our opponent executes their game plan because everybody you face is very, very capable of beating you, and we feel very confident that no matter who we get matched up with, we feel very, very good about our chances as well.”
Miami’s chances for a win will be greatly enhanced if its defense is able to contain MVC Player of the Year Tucker Devries, a 6-7 guard/forward who averages 19 points a game this season.
“The thing about Devries is he can do everything. He can shoot the three, put the ball on the ground and drive it,” Larrañaga said. “He can post you up. He’s an outstanding passer. He can use ball screens, but he can also be the ball screener. So, we don’t find many guys like that in college basketball at all. The guy is an NBA talent, and we know he’s going to be a hard cover for us.”
Along with his son Tucker, Drake coach Darian
Devries is counting on his best players, including former Siena guard Roman Penn, to lead the upset bid, though he is confident other role players can step up.
“When your best players can play well in these games, in any game really, that’s a good thing, but it’s not all on them either,” Darian Devries said.
One question mark surrounding Miami is the health of 6-7 forward Norchad Omier, who injured an ankle in the loss to Duke and did not return to the game.
Omier joined his teammates for a light workout Thursday afternoon and is likely to play, barring overnight swelling, according to Larrañaga. That was reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
“If he’s good, we’re good,” Larrañaga said.