Does Miami Have It In Them To Shock The Blue Devils?
While it seems like anything that could've gone wrong for Miami this season has, they'll get a chance tonight to upset one of college basketball's elites.
As the ACC season comes to an end, Miami will get their first and only matchup with Duke this evening as they'll play host to the eigth ranked Blue Devils.
For the Hurricanes, they'll be without Nijel Pack as he's dealing with a lower extremity (ankle) injury. In his place, expect for Bensley Joseph to be inserted into the starting lineup alongside freshman Kyshawn George in the backcourt.
In order for Miami to be competitive in this game, they'll need to play physical basketball led by Norchad Omier. Omier wasn't the rebounding force he typically is in their game against Boston College, and will look to bounce back in this matchup. In his two appearances (was injured during their ACC Tournament matchup) against Duke last season, Omier averaged 12 rebounds per contest.
As long as Miami can limit their foul trouble and play offensively like they did against Boston College, the Hurricanes should be able to make a game out of this.
Looking at the Blue Devils, the talk of the team has been freshman guard Jared McCain. You may know him for his off-the-court antics as a social media star, but he's been Duke's best player in the last five games. Headlined by a 35 point outing against Florida State, McCain is posting averages of 19.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.4 SPG and shooting 44.1% from three during his five game stretch. Miami will need to focus on boxing out McCain to keep him from dominating the glass. Expected for Miami to throw a mix of defenders at him to slow him down.
Jared McCain had himself a day 🔥
— Overtime (@overtime) February 17, 2024
35 PTS
12/20 FG
8/11 3PT
4 REB
3 STL
pic.twitter.com/nvZbLSM1WG
Duke still has four other players averaging double-digit points this season, with Kyle Filipowski leading the way with 17.0 PPG. However he does tend to be one of the more inconsistent players on the team with his scoring efforts, but it's important that Miami keep Omier out of foul trouble and in the game to keep his impact limited.
When it comes down to it, Duke is simply a deeper team that can attack you in multiple ways. In all of their loses this season, Duke finished as the less efficient three point shooting team and never once won the rebounding battle. While it goes deeper than that to win against the Blue Devils, it's two key areas to pay attention to for this game.
Duke currently sits as 6.5-point favorites over Miami, while the Hurricanes are +240 on the moneyline (odds per ESPN Bet). Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM EST tonight and can be found on ESPN.
2023-24 Miami Hurricanes Basketball Schedule
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You can find Liam on Twitter @theleftyliam where he shares news on University of Miami basketball and football as well as opinions