Miami Hurricanes basketball by the numbers: A lot of superlatives with national title two wins away
The Miami Hurricanes are enjoying a season of superlatives, including a first-ever Final Four berth.
Now the big question is if the next “big” first will be achieved: A national title.
Miami is set to play in Houston on Saturday in the program’s first-ever Final Four against a Connecticut team that is favored and finished with a 29-8 overall record and 13-7 record in the BIG EAST. The Huskies made their way to the Final Four with relatively easy wins over No. 13 Iona (87-63), No. 5 Saint Mary’s (70-55), No. 8 Arkansas (88-65) and most recently over No. 3 Gonzaga (82-54).
Miami’s shown all year you should not underestimate the program. The team mantra became “don’t pick us” heading into the tournament, a jab at those that doubted the Canes.
This is a Miami team, after all, that won the regular season ACC title.
And it’s also a team that has some other numbers worth tracking.
Among them: A win on Saturday night would get Miami to 30 wins on the season for the first time in program history.
Some other numbers worth noting for the Canes as the team works to bring the championship trophy home to Coral Gables:
* A Miami-record 16 home wins
* 15 ACC wins, tying the school record
* A second ACC regular season title
* Coach Jim Larranaga now has 255 wins at Miami, a school record. Of the team’s 15 NCAA Tournement wins, 11 came under Larranaga.
* Statistically as a team Miami finished first in the ACC this year with 79.6 points per game, 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 36.9 percent shooting from three-point range. The team also was third in the ACC with a +2.9 rebound margin and 7.3 steals per game, and fourth with 14.6 assists per game.
* Individually Isaiah Wong was the ACC Player of the Year and ranked ninth in the conference with 16.2 points, 10th with 1.4 assists and 11th with 44.7-percent shooting. Jordan Miller ranked sixth in the ACC with 54.9 percent shooting, 11th with 6.1 rebounds and 12th with 15.3 points per game. Norchad Omier was second in the ACC with 57.9 percent shooting and was 12th in the nation with 10.11 rebounds per game and tied for 10th in the nation with 16 double-doubles. Nijel Pack was 8th in the ACC with 2.5 three-pointers per game and 12th with 44.5 percent overall shooting.
* The team is averaging 81.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament’s four games, with a 47.2 field goal percentage and is hitting 37.8 percent of three-pointers. And in the last three games the team’s 89, 88 and 85 points scored are the top three for the program in Miami’s NCAA Tournament history.
The numbers above are nice, of course.
But in the end the only number that matters for Jim Larranaga and his team is having that No. 1 in the nation next to Miami when the Final Four ends.
