The Miami Hurricanes are this season’s most pleasant surprise. After finishing 20-13 in 2011-12, Miami worked their way to 27-6 overall and 15-3 in the ACC.
So what do you need to know about the ACC Regular Season and Tournament champions?
1. Oftentimes, a team rises up the Top 25 by winning a high volume of games against average opponents. That couldn’t be further from the truth about Miami. Thus far in 2012-13, they’ve defeated No. 2 Duke, No. 8 Michigan State, North Carolina State and North Carolina.
2. Miami has one of those once-in-a-generation players in point guard Shane Larkin. Larkin averages 13.9 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals on 40.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc. As a result, he was named to the All-ACC first team and All-ACC Defensive team.
3. At the helm for Miami is none other than Jim Larranaga. For those unfamiliar, Larranaga is the NCAA Tournament legend that led George Mason on an improbable run to the 2006 Final Four. Today, Larranaga continues to wear his emotions on his sleeve and leads Miami on an improbable run of their own to the ACC regular season crown
4. When it comes to why Miami is successful, all you need to do is look down low. Kenny Kadji comes in at 6’11” and 242 pounds and Reggie Johnson is 6’10” and 292 pounds. Between the, the Hurricanes have one of the most bruising frontcourts in the NCAA.
5. Despite playing in a rather high-flying conference, the Miami Hurricanes are allowing just 59.8 points per game. They’re doing so by playing smothering defense on all areas of the floor, thus resulting in an opponent field goal percentage of 39.4.
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