The Miami Hurricanes will try to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen for the second time ever on Sunday when they face the University of Illinois in Austin, Texas. Having won four straight postseason games (including their three-game sweep in the ACC tournament), 2-seed Miami can continue its magical run with a win over the Fighting Illini.
Fresh of a 78-49 drubbing of Pacific, Miami will face a tougher test in Illinois, who beat 10-seed Colorado 57-49 on Friday. The Illini overcame a 5-point deficit in the final ten minutes against the Buffaloes, showing their resilience on a 16-2 run during the game's most crucial stretch.
Miami did not get the usual scoring output out of star PG Shane Larkin, who shot only 2 of 8 from the field, but he tied a career high with 9 assists, allowing teammate Durand Scott (21 points) and the bench (who combined for 30 points) to pick up the slack. Miami was solid on defense against Pacific, picking up 7 steals (3 by Larkin) and 4 blocked shots while holding the Tigers to 33% shooting.
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The statistics favor the Canes, who sport the 21st-best offense and 16th-best defense in Division I (in terms of points scored and allowed per possession, respectively). But Illinois can score as well; the Illini's offense is 35th in the nation.
The Illini's three-headed backcourt of seniors DJ Richardson and Brandon Paul with sophomore Tracy Abrams coming off the bench combine for 39.8 points per game. They are not the most efficient trio, though, as only Paul shoots better than 40% from the field (40.1%, to be exact).
Illinois can be disruptive on defense, forcing 14.4 turnovers per game to go with 5.6 steals and 3.1 blocks. That makes up for Illinois' weak rebounding (just 33.6 per game, tenth in the Big 10) and opponents' field goal percentage (42.5%).
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Miami shot 12 for 22 from three-point range against Pacific on Friday (with Scott and Rion Brown combining for 8 of those makes), and they also got to the charity stripe frequently (forcing Pacific into 16 personal fouls. Both those stats happen to be weak points for Illinois (who committed 18 fouls per game and allowed opponents to shoot 34% from downtown). The Canes can improve their chances at victory if they repeat that performance against Illinois.
Tipoff is at 8:40pm ET, with coverage on TNT. If Miami wins Sunday, they will face the winner of the Marquette-Butler game next week.
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