No. 15 Miami looks to clean up defense vs. Long Island

Miami bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 62-49 victory over Notre Dame in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Saturday, but a couple of key numbers caught coach Jim Larranaga's eye as the Hurricanes prepare for a Wednesday home game against Long Island.

And no, it wasn't the season-low 62 points, the first time this season the No. 15 Hurricanes (6-1) failed to get at least into the 70s.

Against the Irish, the Hurricanes had more turnovers (13) than assists (12) and were outrebounded 39-37, helping the Irish to an 11-9 advantage in second-chance points.

"To be where we want to be, we just have to improve our defense and our rebounding," Larranaga said. "If we defend better and rebound better, we're going to score the ball much better."

Larranaga has long preached about the need for rebounding to his undersized team. Leading rebounder Norchad Omier (9.3 per game) and Florida State transfer Matthew Cleveland (4.4) are the tallest starters at 6-foot-7.

"We've told the players that defense and rebounding is a very specific mindset," Larranaga said. "Rebounding, neither team has the ball. The ball is in the air, hits the rim, the backboard, and it bounces somewhere.

"The team that goes after it harder more often is going to win the rebound battle because it's basically a loose ball."

Omier is particularly adept chasing down "loose" balls. Against the Irish, he had 13 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and the 54th of his career.

"You can't imagine how much sleep I lose because I worry about him being in foul trouble," Larranaga said, only partially joking.

Larranaga would like to see Cleveland increase his numbers on the boards. Leading scorer Wooga Poplar (16.9 points per game to