NCAA Tournament Pregame Notes: Miami vs. UConn

In preparation for Saturday night’s NCAA Tournament matchup between Miami and UConn, LifeWallet Sports has compiled these notes and statistics to watch out for ahead of the game.

Miami (credit to Miami Athletics):

• Miami is 8-17 all-time against UConn. The last meeting between the two teams was on Nov. 24, 2019, when the Huskies defeated UM, 80-55, in a neutral-site matchup.
• Both schools used to compete against each other annually in the Big East Conference.
• This is Miami’s first Final Four appearance in program history. Last Sunday’s win over Texas was the Hurricanes’ first-ever Elite Eight win.
• UConn is the first Big East team that Miami has played this season.
• Miami’s 29 wins this season tie its school record (2012-13).
• This is UM’s second-ever game in April. Its first contest was in the 2015 NIT championship game against Stanford.
• The last time a Hurricane scored at least 40 points was on Jan. 20, 2003, when Darius Rice scored 43 points against UConn.
• Miami’s combined opponent seed total through the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament (19) is the lowest of any ACC team to make the Final Four since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, according to ESPN’s Bryan Ives.
• The Hurricanes hold an all-time record of 15-11 in the NCAA Tournament.
• Miami has averaged 87.3 points per game over its last three NCAA Tournament games.
• Sophomore guard Nijel Pack was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Midwest Regional.

UConn (credit to UConn Athletics):

• This is UConn’s 36th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and sixth appearance in the Final Four.
• The Huskies’ lone Final Four loss was in 2009 against Michigan State.
• UConn holds a 43-11 record in its last 16 tournament appearances.
• This is UConn’s third Final Four appearance since 2011. The Huskies have been led by a different head coach on each occasion (Jim Calhoun, Kevin Ollie and Dan Hurley).
• Sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins was named the Most Outstanding Player of the West Regional after averaging 22 points and four rebounds per game over four tournament games.
• Both Hawkins and forward Adama Sanogo were selected to the All-Big East First Team.
• The Huskies are the top-rated team in the nation, according to the KemPom rankings.
• UConn ranks second nationally in both rebounding and scoring margin. The Huskies also dish out the fourth most assists per game.
• The Huskies also rank 12th in the country in both rebounds per game and 3-point percentage defense.
• The Huskies are 15-0 this season against non-conference opponents.
• UConn has won each game in the tournament by an average of 22.5 points. This includes a 28-point win over Gonzaga in the Elite Eight.