ANALYSIS: Next obstacle in way for Miami Hurricanes with national championship game berth on line is Connecticut

While No. 5 seeded Miami is enjoying its first Final Four appearance, upcoming opponent Connecticut is enjoying its sixth … and first since the program won the 2014 national championship.

The other two teams still standing in the NCAA Tournament are San Diego State and FAU, so these programs are all just one more win away from playing for the national championship.

Miami plays Saturday at 8:49 p.m., and the Canes are facing a No. 4 seeded team that’s made its way to the Final Four with wins over No. 13 Iona (87-63), No. 5 Saint Mary’s (70-55), No. 8 Arkansas (88-65) and most recently over No. 3 Gonzaga (82-54).

What Miami doesn’t want to be doing after Saturday’s game is having Jim Larranaga echo what Gonzaga coach Mark Few was saying after his team’s recent battle with the Huskies.

“We didn’t have any answers, especially when kind of everything really didn’t bounce our way,” Few said. “And we can’t absorb a game like that when our offense is as bad as it was tonight. UConn deserves credit. I got to see them way back in the PK85. They were great then, and they were certainly great tonight.”

While the Huskies have dominated for the most part at the NCAA Tournament, the team finished with a 29-8 overall record and 13-7 record in the BIG EAST.

Prior to the tourney Connecticut lost to Marquette in its second BIG EAST Tournament game, 70-68,

So what is Miami up against in this one?

Well, Connecticut had wins against No. 4 ranked Alabama, 82-67, No. 24 Creighton, 69-60 and No. 6 Marquette, 87-72.

Losses included to No. 15 Xavier twice, 83-73 and 82-79, to No. 6 Marquette, 82-76 and in the BIG EAST tourney by two, and to No. 24 Creighton, 56-53 (UConn had won the first meeting against both Marquette and Creighton, as mentioned above).

Connecticut averages outscoring opponents 78.8-64.4 and is a prolific three-point shooting team with 25 attempts on average per game (making 36.3 percent).

UConn also is good on the boards, with a 39.3-29.9 edge.

The guys that make this team go?

6-9 junior forward Adama Sanogo averages 17.1 points and 7.5 rebounds, and 6-5 sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins averages 16.3 points (104 made threes, shooting 38.5 percent from long range).

A player this tournament that has gone against Sanogo and knows what it takes to slow him down?

Saint Mary’s Kyle Bowen. He saw Sanogo light up his team for 24 points and eight rebounds.

“A guy like that, a guy that size with his touch around the rim, it’s got to be a multiple-man cover,” Bowen said. “We probably should have supported our bigs a little more and given them a bit more support, which I think we’ve done on some of the best bigs in the country all year.”

Then there’s 6-5 senior point guard Tristen Newton, who averages 9.9 points and 4.3 assists, and 6-8 redshirt freshman forward Alex Karaban averages 9.5 points while 6-6 junior guard Andre Jackson, Jr. is a strong defensive presence who averages 6.8 points and 6.4 rebounds.

“Their pieces really fit well together,” said Arkansas coach Eric Musselman, whose team lost in the tournament to UConn. “The two centers along with perimeter shooting. And then Newton gives them length. And then Jackson’s ability to pass from the small forward position. There’s not a lot of small forwards in college basketball that can have seven assists, and he’s a point forward, not a standard small forward. And they cut really hard. So I think all those things — I thought their offense was just as effective as their defense, which is what their metrics tell you is they’re really good on both sides of the basketball.”

In the most recent win over Gonazaga it was Hawkins with 20 points including six of 10 threes, while Sanogo had a double-double.

Jackson, Jr., meanwhile, had 10 assists, nine rebounds and eight points, while Karaban had 12 points.

So this is a team that can hurt you with numerous players having a role. And the team’s length and physicality is a major strong point.

“They cut hard,” Musselman says. “They crashed the offensive boards, especially early in the game. They did a great job rebounding the ball for the entire 40 minutes. And uncharacteristically we did not defend at the level that we have for most of the year.”

Arkansas forward Kamani Johnson added, “They’re a big team, physical team. Their guards, all five of them crashed the boards. They’re a pretty tough team to rebound with.”

Few was asked after his team’s loss to UConn what it would take for any team to beat the Huskies.

“I hate to be a broken record here, but I saw them in November, and I just thought they were such a complete team,” Few said. “They’ve got great size. They have depth. Their bigs are different. So they bring different qualities. Obviously their guards are really talented. Hawkins is just a terrific catch-and-shoot guy. We knew that coming in. I’ll tell you what’s really hard, especially if they get through that first one, that short prep for them, because there’s so much they do. They have ball-screen actions you have to go over. They have, are you going to double the post? He’s very effective at dribbling. I thought we did a really nice job on Sanogo, actually. And then they surround him with shooters. They’re very different. Jackson is a different player. Karaban is a great catch-and-shoot stretch shoot and 4. It’s a lot. It’s a lot.”

It should be quite a battle on Saturday.

With a berth in the national title game on the line.

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