The Miami Hurricanes will begin their quest for the Final Four on Friday afternoon as they take on the Pacific Tigers at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center in Austin, Texas.
The No. 2 seeded Hurricanes come in with a chip on their shoulder. Despite winning the ACC Tournament last weekend, they were not awarded one of the four top seeds to the NCAA Tournament. Miami features one of the most experienced rosters in the country, and given their ability to both score and come up with key stops on the defensive end, they will be an awfully tough out this March.
For more on the Hurricanes, visit State Of The U
The only real knock on Miami is that they finished the regular season portion of ACC play on a down note. The notion that they peaked too early was dispelled at the conference tournament, though, and now the Canes appear to be firing on all cylinders. Shane Larkin, Kenny Kadji and Durand Scott all average about 14 points a game for Miami, while big man Reggie Johnson controls the paint.
No. 15 seeded Pacific enters the field of 68 after winning the Big West Tournament. They went 22-12 in the regular season, including a 13-5 mark in conference play. The Tigers lack any eye-popping wins on their resume, although they did beat Xavier and Saint Mary's back-to-back in November. They are led by senior guard Lorenzo McCloud, who averages 11.4 points a game.
Game Time, TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, TNT
Location: Frank Erwin Special Events Center in Austin, Texas.
More in College Basketball:
• Printable bracket for March Madness
• Need help filling out your bracket? Check out our predictions
• An oral history of Bryce Drew's epic buzzer-beater
• The life and death of Earl Badu
• Full coverage of March Madness
• Jay Bilas breaks down the bracket