Know Your Opponent: Miami

Miami (HurricaneSports.com)
Location: Coral Gables, Fla.
Rankings: No. 72 KenPom, NR AP
Record: 9-7, 1-3 ACC
NET/SOS: No. 94 NET, No. 79 SOS
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 22-8 (UNC 82, Miami 65, March 8, 2017, Barclays Center)

Carolina will complete a back-to-back against very similar opponents when the Tar Heels follow Tuesday's win over Notre Dame with a Saturday noon tip against Miami. Like the Irish, Jim Larrañaga's Hurricanes aren't deep, essentially playing just seven with Deng Gak lost for the season (knee) and Dewan Hernandez (formerly Huell) stuck in NCAA eligibility limbo. The Canes are also very stingy when it comes to allowing opponents to get to the line, much like their counterparts in South Bend. In fact, Notre Dame and Miami rank 1-2 nationally in defensive free throw rate according to KenPom.

But while ND is led by 6-9 double-double machine John Mooney, the U has at its helm 5-7 sophomore dynamo Chris Lykes. After serving as more of a secondary option behind Ja'Quan Newton and Lonnie Walker in 2018, Lykes has emerged as a bonafide star in his second season in Coral Gables. The Maryland native averages 22.0 points per game in league play and has been a near-automatic 93.5 percent shooter at the line against ACC foes.

Surrounding Lykes is a veteran core that features four upperclassmen in graduate student Zach Johnson, seniors Anthony Lawrence and Ebuka Izundu, and junior DJ Vasiljevic. All five average in double figures, with Izundu just shy of a double-double at 11.8 points and 9.5 boards per outing. A native of Nigeria who played his prep ball in Charlotte, Izundu is one of the best offensive rebounders in the country and makes two-thirds of his 2-point attempts.

Vasiljevic picked up where he left off in 2018 as one of the top outside shooters in the ACC. The 6-3 Australian is making nearly 44 percent of his 3s overall, a rate that ticks up to 46.2 in league play. No other Canes make better than 36 percent from deep, but both Lykes (36 percent on 80 attempts) and Lawrence (35 percent on 77 attempts) have the green light.

The early departure of Walker paired with the Hernandez eligibility saga left Miami with little room for error. A rough non-conference showing that featured just one top-100 win (Fresno State) and losses to Penn, Rutgers and Yale combined with an 0-3 start to league play put a major dent in the Canes' postseason hopes. But a win Saturday - not to mention the reinstatement of Hernandez - would go a long way toward rebooting UM's 2019 campaign.

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