2016 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 3 Miami vs. No. 11 Wichita State

In the South Region of the 2016 NCAA tournament, the No. 3 seed Miami Hurricanes and No. 11 seed Wichita State Shockers will get together in the first game of the Round of 32 on Saturday. The Hurricanes will be looking to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013 while the Shockers will be looking to make it two years in a row and three out of four.

Miami is coming off of a 79-72 victory over the Buffalo Bulls in the first round of the tournament. The Hurricanes were led by senior guard Angel Rodriguez who posted 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sheldon McClellan also chipped in 20 points while Kamari Murphy registered 11 points and 13 rebounds. Miami also got a double-double from Davon Reed with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Shockers, meanwhile, are coming off two dominant wins over Vanderbilt and Arizona. Against Arizona, Wichita State was led by senior guards Fred Van Vleet, who posted 16 points, four rebounds and five steals, and Ron Baker, who had 13 points, five rebounds and six assists. The Shockers also got nice contributions from Markis McDuffie and Conner Frankamp off the bench who each scored 10.

What To Watch For

The Hurricanes live and die by Rodriguez and McClellan. If they are going to advance to the Sweet 16, it’s going to be on the shoulders of those two guys. I’m sure it was nice for head coach Jim Larranaga to see Murphy have a big game as the Hurricanes certainly need an inside presence, but the guard play will determine the game on Saturday.

As for Wichita State, the Shockers possess two of the best defensive guards in the nation in Van Vleet and Baker and their task will be to slow Miami’s guards. It will be interesting to see if fatigue catches up to Gregg Marshall‘s club as they’ll be playing their third game in five days.

The winner of this game will be the team that has the best performance from its guards. With experience on their side and a relentless defense, I’m going with the upset and taking the Shockers to move on to the Sweet 16.

Prediction: Wichita State 73, Miami 70