Tyrese Hunter, Marcus Carr provide first impression of Miami

After advancing to the Elite Eight with a win over Xavier, Texas has set up a meeting with Miami for the right to go to the Final Four. But the first impression of Miami that players have has disavowed any of them of the notion that this will be an easy game.

Miami is playing as well as anyone in the NCAA Tournament right now.

“They’re a great team,” Texas guard Marcus Carr said. “Obviously they’re playing really well right now. They played really well yesterday. Just the physicality. That’s the biggest thing we noticed.”

Miami basically stumped Houston from start to finish, playing a brand of basketball that the Cougars simply weren’t ready to deal with. The Longhorns can likely expect the same.

Carr has seen Houston before, so it wasn’t hard for him to draw that parallel; Texas needs to come ready to play.

“A few of us and everybody, we’ve closed scrimmaged Houston the last few years,” Carr said. “So we understand what a physical team they are and how they attack the glass. So to see the job Miami did against them and the physicality and the way they rebounded the ball, definitely speaks to the toughness of their team and how they play. So we’re going to have to match that.”

Fellow guard Tyrese Hunter also provided some thoughts on the matchup with the ‘Canes and his first impression of Miami.

“I think last year they played very fast,” Hunter said. “I think they was kind of everywhere on defense, just playing, trying to get out in transition. I really don’t see no difference this year.

“Honestly they kind of filled in the roles of the players they lost last year. Just getting out, running and jumping, playing fast up and down, and keeping the pace up.”

Miami is coming off a game in which it scored 89 points against Houston. The ‘Canes also scored more than 80 in a win over Indiana, winning that one 85-69.

But the Hurricanes are also capable of winning a lower-scoring game, as they showed in a 63-56 victory over Drake.

Texas, meanwhile, has advanced to this point in the Elite Eight by virtue of wins over Colgate, Penn State and Xavier. Whatever Miami team shows up on Sunday night, it’s safe to say Texas won’t be taking it lightly.

Miami and Texas are scheduled to tip off on Sunday night at 5:05, with a national broadcast on CBS.