Miami basketball needs big game from guards at Louisville

The Miami basketball team needs their guard to bounce back at Louisville on Tuesday night after a poor combined performance in a blowout loss to Duke on Saturday night at the Watsco Center.

The key for the Miami basketball team in 2019-20 is the play from their perimeter game. In the loss to Duke Chris Lykes, Dejan Vasiljevic and Kam McGusty and combined for only 29 points in the loss to the Blue Devils. The trio is averaging 44.8 points on the season. Miami will go how they go.

Louisville could have a vulnerable backcourt for the Miami basketball team to take advantage of. The Cardinals blitzed the Hurricanes 87-74 in the season opener in November at the Watsco Center. The game was not as close as the final score. Miami needed a 14-0 run to close the game just to reach the final score.

Louisville played excellent defense on Miami in the season opener. The Hurricanes shot 43.5 percent from the floor but were hot from behind the arc making 10-24. Miami needs to continue to hit threes to pick up a big road win at number 16 Louisville on Tuesday night. The Hurricanes offense fizzled on Saturday against Duke.

Miami Hurricanes Basketball

Miami shot 39.7 percent from the floor and made just 2-12 three-point attempts. Lykes particularly had an off night. The junior point guard made 2-15 from the floor and missed all three of his three-point attempts. Vasiljevic was 3-9 from the floor and 1-3 on threes. McGusty scored 11 and was 4-7 and 1-3.

Louisville relies on All-American forward Jordan Nwora. Nwora enters Tuesday’s game averaging 21.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG, shoots 48.6 percent from the floor and 42.7 on threes. Nwora scorched Miami for 23 points, 12 rebounds and made four of his six three-point attempts. Miami did not have forward Keith Stone in the opener.

Getting Stone back after he recovered from offseason ACL surgery could be critical against the Cardinals and particularly Nwora on the frontline. Miami should have an advantage in the backcourt but Louisville will have a big advantage upfront. Louisville coach Chris Mack was displeased with his guard play on Saturday.

"“Our guards got manhandled…Florida State shot over the top of them.”"

McGusty is the only Hurricanes guard who might be able to take advantage of any size differential with the Louisville guards. Lykes, Vasiljevic and McGusty combined for 46 of Miami’s 74 points in the season-opening loss. Miami will be without Deng Gak who played 12 minutes against the Cardinals in the season opener.

Gak is out for the second straight season with a torn ACL. The Miami basketball star backcourt shot 18-38 from the floor and 8-16 on threes against Louisville in November. Getting off to a good start is also critical. Louisville slugged Miami 90-73 last season after the Hurricanes led 30-15 in the first half.

If the Hurricanes get off to that kind of start again they have to be able to put Louisville away. The Cardinals backcourt of Fresh Kimble and Darius Perry has just 12 points on 5-18 from the floor and 2-6 on threes in their loss to the Seminoles. Louisville will have a big advantage over Miami upfront.

The Cardinals are simply put, huge on the frontline. Louisville did not have 6’10 260-pound center, Malik Williams, in the opener. Williams and 6’11 250 pound Stephen Enoch have been a force in the post for the Cardinals. Enoch scored 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the last game against Miami.

Miami needs Rodney Miller to play like the 7’0 center he is against Louisville on Tuesday. Miller is averaging just 6.1 PPG and 4.6 RPG. Sam Waardenburg has come on lately. He has the length at 6’10 but will be giving up 30-40 pounds against Enoch and Williams. At 6’8 253, Stone is the opposite of Miller.

The Hurricanes need a good performance from Miller, Waardenburg and Stone to have a chance against Louisville. Miami hung with the Cardinals on the boards in the last meeting only getting outrebounded 40-35. Miller led the Hurricanes with a then career-high nine rebounds. He tied that mark later this season versus Temple.