Rodney Terry knows Texas will have their hands full with Nijel Pack, Miami

Texas interim coach Rodney Terry knows the challenge of Miami and Nijel Pack in the team’s upcoming matchup in the Elite Eight.

The Longhorns are the No. 2 seed for a reason, but the Hurricanes can’t be underestimated. Pack is a legit threat to score in bunches and could very well put up around 30 points on any given night.

Terry was asked how Texas plans on stopping Pack, immediately after the Sweet 16 win.

“You’re not going to let me enjoy this for one night, huh? (Laughter),” Terry said. “Nijel Pack is a good player. He is an All Team Big 12 performer a year ago. He’s a guy that everybody in the league we had to game plan for him a year ago with K State. Really good shooter. Really good offensive player. Just a really cerebral basketball player. Knows how to play the game the right way, pays with great pace.”

Terry didn’t limit Miami to just Pack though. The Hurricanes made the Elite Eight for the second straight year.

“But he’s got other great teammates over there,” Terry said. “That’s a great (team) over there. Their guard play is really good. They share the basketball really well in terms of passing the basketball. Their interior players played really well today against a really physical Houston team. Nothing but respect for Coach Larranaga and what he’s been able to do over the course of his career. His teams just win. We know we have our hands full with a really tough Miami ball club.”

Defense is the Longhorns’ calling card. Terry made it known after they limited Xavier in the Sweet 16 win.

“We did a great job not giving those guys a lot of separation,” Terry said. “Tyrese was terrific early in the game on Boum. He did a great job on Souley not letting him get comfortable, get to his sweet spot where he can score the basketball. Really made him uncomfortable for a better part of the first half.

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“We knew he was going to come out. He’s too good player to completely shut down. You just want to continue to contain him, and the competitor that he is, he’s going to continue to play. But we did a great job guarding their perimeter players tonight. A lot of that goes to Marcus and Timmy and Terry, all those guys. Every guy that came in really tried to play hard defensively. We know what Tyrese was doing from start to finish with a really good offensive player.