UConn's staff did a great job on two key aspects of Larranaga's game plan.
1) Miami dependance on 1-on-1 dribble penetration. "Missing" 14 layups does not happen by accident. UConn has a defense that makes hero ball basketball like this look stupid. A penetrator coming from 25 feet from the basket is one of the easier threats to defend at any level of basketball. Your defense has a lot of time to respond when a a driver comes from beyond the 3 point line, and your rim protector knows almost exactly where and when the shot is going to occur because the driver is coming to you as a defender and it is easy to time the shot challenge. The driver is going to take off around the block, which makes the defense that much easier. At any level, guards should be driving to dish rather than driving to score. Getting to the hoop to score is just too difficult against a good defense.
2) Miami's ball pressure in man-to-man. Hurley must have thought Larranaga was joking when he was pressuring AJax and Newton 30 feet from the hoop and leaving Sanogo 1-on-1 inside the 3 point line. Imagine if Hawkins hadn't spent the last 24 hours draining his pipes and was 100%, or even 70% for that game. I thought UConn left a lot of points on the table and still chewed Miami up on offense.
Great job by the coaches to game plan Larranaga and by the players to execute it.