Five in a row for the Hurricanes, and this game might be the most heartbreaking.

The Miami Hurricanes failed to defeat the Arkansas Razorbacks in the ACC/SEC Challenge as they led for 36 minutes before blowing the lead and winning the game 76-73.

Head coach Jim Larranaga felt the team had improved, but still no wins as the Canes prepare to face Clemson on Saturday.

I want to start by letting you know that there are no moral victories in this game. You know we all fight very, very hard to win, so I want to start that way, but I understand that there are a lot of things that I’m happy about. I was particularly pleased with how well Matt Cleveland played. Well, it would be so great if you knew he would play like that every night. CU was a real factor on both ends of the court, rebounding very well. He shot the ball and defended well, which is a big plus. Secondly, we had the lead for 36 minutes in the tournament last week. In three consecutive games we never had the lead, not for a second, so we got off to a better start. We played more consistently at both ends of the pitch. The third thing I was happy about is the rebound totals against a team of this size with these type of athletes, where we both grabbed 33 rebounds and they got nine offensive rebounds while we had eight. So from a statistical improvement perspective, there are a few things I’m really confident about that will allow us to play more consistently. My biggest concern was our inability to really defend the three down the stretch, and honestly I was very impressed with their ability to make threes. John El Davis and Iiich both made really important three-pointers, but we defended Theovery well, uh Boogie Flan is a pro. I mean, you can see he’s playing really great as a freshman on both ends, he’s playing really hard, um, we had, um, Nigel had another great game, um, he had 22 points, Matthad 15, Jaylen had 12, we just needed a few more guys to step up and didn’t have great games but good solid performances and uh like U last game Brandon had 23 but today he only gets five he got the other day five points and three bounds They had about 23 and eight. The challenge for us is to find a pattern that can be consistent the way we have changed the St and the lineup. Now let me see that one changes two three. I think it’s either our third or fourth substitution and we’ll probably have to do it again until we find the right combination of guys to not only play well for 36 minutes but also finish the job.

I think every player and coach hates losing. You don’t play the game to lose, that’s why they say there are no moral victories. Well, we played pretty well for 36 minutes, but the bottom line is that we want to finish strong and end the game with a win, and the only way to do that is to be consistently good on defense and rebounding must be.

Probably Arkansas, you know what I mean? Sometimes players don’t listen to the coach or think about their strategy, but instead look at the opponent and say, man, these guys are NBA caliber players. I want to show that I myself am capable of being that kind of player and that’s all great. You know you want guys like that who are up for the competition. What you don’t want is the roller coaster ride. I’m ready for certain games and I’m not ready for certain games. You really have to try to be as consistent as possible because consistency is what the coach values ​​when you are and I’ll use an example I In the past there have been players who scored 21 one night and two goals the next game achieved. I like it, what type will you be tonight? I play great defense when I’m against a great player, but this other guy who’s not as good, who I’m not even guarding, has a great game. Consistency in everything you do in life is key when you’re a baseball player: When you hit, you know a few home runs in a game and then you strike out, you know the next three or four games. It’s about knowing your batting average in baseball. If you can hit .333 that’s great in three point shooting you can shoot 40% from three that’s great if you shoot over 50% overall that’s great if you rebound if you average all for a big guy Get a rebound every three minutes, that’s great if you’re a guard, a rebound every five minutes Great, but if you don’t do that, if you play well in one game but not in the next, it’s hard to do that way to win.

About Austin Swartz from…

I think Austin is training and playing very well now. In the last game tonight he shot a great three-pointer, he was 1-for-6. I told you that in the last game. When you have guys shooting 35-40% from three, HE is capable of doing that on a consistent basis. Yes, Jalil, yes, but when don’t they? Do it then I have to find someone who could be okay so we didn’t start Jalen today but obviously he was in at the end and he was in during our run and he averaged or scored 12 points so had to we just keep getting better.

They run a screen and roll and send this 7-foot tall man to the basket and they throw it to him and he dunks it, so we probably have to help with that and then when we help it opens up the three-point shot and some of his You know the one in the corner, I mean he didn’t pick and pop or pick and roll, he just went out and hit a three.

I actually hope it just rubs off on him. You know the thing about accountability and responsibility. You know that all players and all coaches have to be responsible. You have to know what your responsibilities are and you are accountable to your teammates and coaches. The coaches are accountable to the players. We’re doing a good job. We send the right messages. We teach the right things. I mean the time we spent blocking free throws is incredible and I’ve trained well for 54 years never We spent so much time blocking free throws we did a better job but they have still get one. Why did we do something wrong? What I’m trying to say is that when Matt can understand the back-and-forth game so well, it helps the next man up because it means that’s what the coach is looking for. Nijel does it, in fact Jalen does it. I would say Brandon is very close to doing what Lynn does. We need more guys to pick up the newbies and help us more consistently.