GAME NOTES: In the second round of the 2015 NIT, the sixth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide have made the trek to South Florida for Saturday's matchup with the second seeded-Miami Hurricanes at the BankUnited Center.

The winner will play either the fifth-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils or the top-seeded Richmond Spiders in the quarterfinals.

The Crimson Tide scored a huge victory this past Tuesday when they knocked off the third-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini, 79-58. The win bumped Alabama's overall record up to 19-14.

Miami advanced to the second round with a 75-71 victory over seventh-seeded NC Central on Tuesday, improving the Hurricanes' overall record to 22-12.

This bout marks just the third time these programs are meeting on the hardwood, with Alabama leading the series 2-0. The teams last met on Mar. 23, 2011, when a 79-64 Crimson Tide victory helped propel Alabama to the 2011 NIT semifinals.

Alabama shot an impressive 59.6 percent from the field against Illinois, which included 53.3 percent beyond the arc. The Tide held the Illini to a .323 shooting percentage, which included just 30.4 percent from 3-point distance. Alabama outscored Illinois 15-9 at the free-throw line, and 32-16 in points in the paint. Levi Randolph led the Crimson Tide with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Randolph is the top scorer for Alabama this season with his 15.3 ppg, while Ricky Tarrant pitches in with 13.1 ppg. The Crimson Tide score 67.1 ppg and allow teams to net 63.8 ppg, which gives the squad a scoring margin of +3.2. Alabama converts 44.3 percent of its field goal tries and allows its opponents to connect on just 41.1 percent of their's. The Tide is solid from the free- throw line with a shooting percentage of .719.

Miami converted half of its field goal attempts against NC Central, including 8-of-16 from 3-point range. Although the Hurricanes allowed the Eagles to net 53.1 percent of their total shots, Miami went an impressive 23-of-25 at the charity stripe, and outscored the Eagles there by 12 points. The Hurricanes were led by Manu Lecomte, who scored 18 points.

Sheldon McClellan is the Hurricanes' top scorer with 14.7 ppg while Lecomte is Miami's top rebounder with 10.1 rpg. The Hurricanes generate 68.6 ppg and allow 63.4 ppg. Miami converts 43.5 percent of its field goal attempts, while allowing opponents to convert 42.8 percent of their tries from the floor. Miami is also effective from the free-throw line as it converts 74.4 percent of its tries.

While Alabama is just 2-3 in its last five outings, the Hurricanes are 4-1. In what is likely to be a close matchup between two balanced teams, expect Miami's solid play of late to lift it to a victory.