Kansas City, MO – The fifth seeded Miami Hurricanes and second seeded Texas Longhorns are set to face off on Sunday for the Elite 8 matchup in Kansas City for a trip to the FInal Four on the line.
Both teams play very similarly as they are known for strong guard play and defensive pressure.
For Texas, it is important to play physically. Miami is a very physical team, and that is a big thing that the Longhorns have noticed when preparing for the Hurricanes as Marcus Carr pointed out.
“Miami is a great team,” Carr said. “Their physicality is what we mostly noticed so we have to be ready for that tomorrow.”
Another thing that is going to be key for Texas is its defense. Coach Rodney Terry talked about how dangerous the Hurricanes are offensively and how deep they are.
“They put so much pressure on you defensively,” Terry said. “Any guy can initiate the pace offensively which makes them so dangerous so we need to do a good job getting to our rotations on defense.”
Miami also emphasized how important defense is going to be during the press conference on Saturday. The Hurricanes recognized that the Longhorns also have a very talented backcourt.
“We both have great guard play,” Isaiah Wong said. “The game is going to come down to getting stops defensively.”
Nijel Pack also talks about how they need to make sure that they are clicking on all cylinders against Texas on Sunday. The guard explained how the Hurricanes need to be efficient on every aspect of the game.
“They have a really good team,” Pack said. “We need to protect the paint, rebound the ball, and continue to do well on the offensive end.”
Sunday’s matchup will mark Miami’s second Elite 8 appearance in a row, and Jim Larranaga is holding his team to a high standard. The head coach mentioned that he wants his players who were a part of last year’s roster to be leaders and guide the newer players through this experience.
“They experienced this last year,” Larranaga said. “Hopefully the members of the team from last season can bridge the gap between them and the ones who weren’t so we can execute our game plan to the best of our ability.”
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