So there it is. Miami (OH) proved Bruce Pearl to be silly and showed they deserved to be in the tournament, and better than the play in game. The RedHawks defeated SMU on Wednesday night in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio 89-79. While the game got close for a while in the second half, it was Miami’s night from pretty much the start until the end.
What was clear is that this Miami team loves to shoot it from long range, and they’re pretty good at it. Guard Eian Elmer led the RedHawks with 23 points and was a robust 6-9 from beyond the arc. Fellow guard Luke Skaljac was 3-5 from three with 17 points. They finished 16-41 (39%), but honestly, watching the game, it felt like they knocked down more than that.
The RedHawks played a nearly flawless game. Check out this series of stats.
In short, the RedHawks are a dangerous bunch, and if they repeat this performance and Tennessee doesn’t play at least a solid game, the Vols could see an early exit on Friday.
However, the Vols have something important working in their favor: second-chance opportunities. Tennessee is the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation. They have the interior size advantage over the RedHawks with J.P. Estrella, Jaylen Carey, DeWayne Brown II, and Felix Okpara. Like, a major advantage. Tennessee should control the paint and the boards in this game. And if they can do that and avoid one of those 22 point first halves where they can’t throw it in the ocean, then I’m not terribly worried about this matchup despite Miami coming in with momentum.
The Vols and RedHawks will face off at 4:25 pm ET on Friday in Philadelphia. Tennessee is currently an 11.5-point favorite.