Miami Basketball: 3 keys to beat Texas Longhorns in Elite Eight matchup

Protect the paint

Texas has scored 40 points in the paint in each of their last two games. The Longhorns have so many different guys that can beat you, and they are great at generating easy looks around the rim. However, their best interior scorer in the last month has been Dylan Disu, who is day-to-day with a foot injury and a game-time decision for this matchup.

Texas is still extremely dangerous without Disu, as fifth year senior Christian Bishop is more than capable of stepping into a larger role. Bishop scored 18 points against Xavier on 8-12 shooting in just 24 minutes Friday night. Marcus Carr and Tyrese Hunter are both dangerous as ball handlers in the pick and roll, and against the Musketeers they were able to make plays for themselves and their teammates around the basket.

Texas is a solid three-point shooting team, shooting 33.9% on the season. Sir’Jabari Rice is the guy who scares you the most back there if you are Miami. He shot 7-10 from distance in the first round win over Colgate and is shooting 36.6% from deep on the season. Carr (36.7%) and Hunter (34.4%) are able to get hot from distance as well, and shot a combined 5-6 in the win over Xavier.

But in the Penn State game, the Longhorns were a combined 1-13 on three-pointers. This squad can definitely go cold from deep, and because they are so good at scoring on the interior, I consider it a win defensively if Carr or Hunter is taking a three off the dribble. Forcing those guards into tougher shots farther from the basket, and preventing as many east buckets as possible for the bigs inside is the key to slowing down this Texas offensive attack.