Miami players got stuck in an elevator and somehow that fiasco helped them upset Houston

The Miami men’s basketball team somehow turned getting stuck into an elevator into a game-changing defensive strategy for the 2023 men’s NCAA tournament.

After his No. 5 Hurricanes dominated No. 1 Houston in the Sweet 16, 89-75, Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga detailed how an elevator breakdown might’ve helped the team even more than a film breakdown.

Larrañaga explained on Thursday, 12 Miami players got stuck in an elevator after the team’s defensive-centric meeting. After 30 minutes of being trapped, the Miami players were rescued by firefighters.

Somehow, the team got inspiration from that claustrophobic experience to play lockdown defense against one of the best teams in the country in top-seeded Houston.

“You guys got to be in the paint like you were in the elevator yesterday,” Larrañaga told his team during Friday’s shootaround to fix a stretched-out defense. “And they did that.”

Talk about making lemonade out of lemons.

It’s one thing to play a good game after such an uncomfortable fiasco. It’s another to actually have getting stuck in an elevator power you to a men’s NCAA tournament win against a No. 1 seed.