Tennessee basketball’s opponent is set for the first round of the NCAA Tournament as the six-seed Vols face off against 11-seed Miami (Ohio). The RedHawks are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007 while Tennessee is back in the tournament for the eighth straight time.
Here’s a quick look at Miami ahead of the NCAA Tournament first round matchup.
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How The RedHawks Got Here
By winning games. Lots of them. 32 of them exactly. The RedHawks went 31-0 in the regular season and that was good enough to earn an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament after losing to UMass in the first round of the MAC Tournament.
That strong regular season got Miami to Dayton for the First Four and the RedHawks made it count, knocking off SMU 81-69 on Wednesday night.
In the regular season, Miami was stellar in close games. The RedHawks went 15-0 in games decided by single digits and 11-0 in games decided by five points or less.
The matchup against SMU was Miami’s first against a power five opponent this season. Before that, its best wins were over Akron and then Toledo. Because of that, analytical sites do not like the RedHawks. Miami ranks No. 88 in KenPom, coming in behind lower seeded teams like Akron, McNeese, Hofstra and Northern Iowa.
Miami’s Strengths
This is a good offensive team and it starts with its ability to hit three-pointers. The RedHawks made 16 triples against SMU on Wednesday night and that’s not a rarity. They’ve made 10-plus three-pointers in 21 games this season and 13-plus three-pointers in eight games.
The RedHawks are shooting 37.6% from three-point range this season, a mark that ranks 22nd nationally. They are doing it at a high clip too, Miami takes 45% of its field goal attempts form beyond the arc. It’s a strength in shooting numbers situation for Miami. Five RedHawks have made over 30 triples this season with all making at at least a 33% clip.
That’s sort of the story of this Miami team. The RedHawks are very balanced scoring and makes everyone on the court guard. Seven players are averaging over 10-points per game though one of them is hurt, knocking that number down to six.
Miami also does a stellar job of taking care of the basketball, ranking 27th nationally in turnover rate.
Two things Miami does well defensively— the first is protecting the glass. Now, protecting the glass against Tennessee is a completely different challenge but it’s an area they have excelled this season. The second strength is its ability to defend without fouling.
Miami’s Weaknesses
The most obvious one would be size, but the RedHawks aren’t as small as you might think. Its tallest player in the rotation is 6-foot-9 Antwone Woolfolk which is not very big compared to Tennessee’s three starters over 6-foot-10. But Miami (Ohio) has three rotation players that are 6-foot-8 or taller.
In fact, Miami’s average height is taller than four at-large bids: Georgia, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech.
Still, Miami has not been great at defending the rim this season. Opponents are shooting 51.9% from two-point range against the RedHawks while their 8% block rate ranks 261st nationally.
While the RedHawks are a good defensive rebounding team, they are the second worst offensive rebounding team in the NCAA Tournament.
This is by no means a weakness but just a contrast in style. Miami plays at a fast pace, shooting the ball with an average of 16.3 seconds left on the shot clock. In this NCAA Tournament game, it will ironically be the SEC school trying to slow down the pace against a MAC opponent.
Standout RedHawks
Miami has strength in numbers but there’s still a few RedHawks players you need to know.
Leading scorer Peter Suder had a quiet game against SMU but is still averaging 14.6 points per game on 42.9% shooting from three-point range. He also ranks in the top 300 nationally in assist rate and grabs 4.6 rebounds per game. He’s a do-it-all guys for the RedHawks.
Eian Elmer is the top sharpshooter on this team. He hit six three-pointers against SMU and has made a team-high 69 three-pointers at an incredibly impressive 44.5% three-point clip.
Power forward Brant Byers is Miami’s second leading scorer. A 6-foot-8 forward, Byers is averaging 14.2 points per game on 39.8% shooting from three-point range. He will force Tennessee bigs to defend the perimeter.
Almar Atsalon, Antwone Woolfolk and Luke Skaljak are the three other Miami players averaging 10-plus points per game.
