Miami Basketball: 3 keys to beating Iowa State in Sweet 16 matchup

ACC basketball is 8-2 in March Madness and three teams remain in the NCAA Tournament from the conference. Here’s a look at three keys to victory as Miami Basketball faces off against the Iowa State Cyclones.

3. Continue to own the paint and fastbreak

The Miami Hurricanes haven’t won their NCAA Tournament games by owning the 3-point line, they’ve won them by owning the paint. Through two games, the Hurricanes are outscoring their opponents 76-54 in the paint by applying continuous pressure on opposing teams’ interior presence to make things happen, or continue to watch their guards score.

Miami scored 48 of their 79 total points in the paint against No. 1 seed Auburn this past weekend. Even greater than that was the Hurricanes’ fastbreak attack by outscoring the Tigers 30-1 while pushing the pace continuously. The Hurricanes have worn out their opponents by applying pressure on defense to force turnovers then turning those turnovers into easy points on the other end of the floor.

While they’ve forced 15.5 turnovers per game, they’ve done a great job of limiting their turnovers as well. They turned the ball over just three times against the USC Trojans in the opening round and only four times against the Auburn Tigers in their upset victory.

As a team, they also managed to dish out 19 assists on 32 made field goals. As they’ve continued to build on their chemistry on both ends of the floor, they’ve turned it into success on the hardwood.