Men's Basketball Takes on St. John's at Madison Square Garden
Dec. 26, 2008
NEW YORK, N.Y… – The Hurricanes hit the road for the holidays, traveling to New York City to take on former Big East-rival St. John’s in Madison Square Garden on Sat., Dec. 27, in a game to be televised on ESPNU.
Game 11: Miami (7-3) vs. St. John’s (9-2)
Date: Sat., Dec. 27, 2008 | Time: Noon (EST) | Site: Madison Square Garden
TV: ESPNU | Radio: 560 WQAM | Internet Video: None
Websites: Miami (www.hurricanesports.com) | St. John’s (www.redstormsports.com)
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com
Projected Miami Starters
No. Name (Pos/Ht/Wt/Cl) Pts Reb Ast
01 Lance Hurdle (G, 6-2, 183, Sr.) 8.2 1.4 2.4
33 Jack McClinton (G, 6-1, 185, Sr.) 17.0 2.2 2.7
23 James Dews (G, 6-4, 209, Jr.) 8.9 2.5 1.3
20 Cyrus McGowan (F, 6-9, 236, R-Jr.) 7.4 5.7 1.1^
21 Dwayne Collins (F, 6-8, 238, Jr.) 11.0 8.0 1.2
Projected St. John’s Starters
No. Name (Pos/Ht/Wt/Cl) Pts Reb Ast
01 D.J. Kennedy (F, 6-6, 210, So.) 13.9 7.3 2.4
23 Paris Horne (G, 6-3, 185, So.) 12.6 3.2 2.5
05 Sean Evans (F, 6-8, 250, So.) 10.6 6.4 0.9
55 Rob Thomas (F, 6-6, 226, R-So.) 5.5 3.4 0.1
10 Quincy Roberts (G, 6-5, 190, Fr.) 4.5 2.1 0.8
^ blocks per game
Miami is 3-1 away from home in 2008-09, including a 1-0 mark on its opponents’ home court after a 73-67 victory at Kentucky on Dec. 6 in front of 24,109 Wildcat faithful. That win marked the program’s first at Rupp Arena, as fifth-year Miami head coach Frank Haith added to his victories on some of the most challenging courts — including at North Carolina, Florida and now Kentucky.
Under Haith, the Hurricanes have won two-straight games over Big East opponents — defeating St. John’s, 66-47, in Coral Gables on Dec. 2, 2007, and Providence, 64-58, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 18, 2007, to win the inaugural Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic.
THE SERIES
Saturday marks the 30th meeting between Miami and St. John’s. The Hurricanes have won two straight over the Red Storm, however St. John’s leads the all-time series 16-13. Saturday marks just the fifth meeting between the programs in non-conference competition.
A CLASS ACT
Senior guard Jack McClinton has been selected as a candidate for the 2008-09 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. McClinton is among 30 senior men’s basketball players from around the nation – and four from the ACC – chosen as a candidate for the award, which is presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports. Based on criteria focusing on classroom, character, community and competition, the award winner will be selected by national balloting of head basketball coaches, national media and college basketball fans. A national media committee will select 10 finalists from the initial list of 30 in February 2009. Those 10 finalists will be placed on the official ballot for nationwide vote, with the winner being announced during the weekend of the NCAA Men’s Final Four.
McClinton, who has also been named a Wooden Award and Bob Cousy Award candidate this season, is the first Hurricane men’s basketball player named as a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. He leads the Hurricanes in scoring for the third-straight season with 17.0 points per game – including a team-high 2.7 assists and 2.3 three-pointers an outing. Miami’s first All-ACC First Team selection in 2007-08, he was also the only First Team pick named to the All-ACC Academic Team.
DID U KNOW…
Miami’s strength of schedule is ranked No. 2 in the country and its RPI is No. 27.
WHAT HAVE U DONE FOR ME LATELY
Jack McClinton is averaging 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game over his last two appearances, shooting .519 from the field. Dwayne Collins and James Dews are also averaging double-figure points over their two outings, with Collins posting 10.5 points per game at a .667 clip and Dews contributing 10.0 points per game — including converting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
A LOOK AT THE LOSSES
All three of UM’s losses this season are to teams ranked among the nation’s Top 20 in the Coaches Poll, Top 25 in the AP Poll and Top 15 in the RPI – No. 2/2 UConn (RPI 8), No. 13/15 Ohio State (RPI 13) and No. 20/22 Clemson (RPI 6).
Of those currently ranked among the top 20 in the RPI, the Hurricanes will have played seven (35%) of those teams by the end of the regular season — Duke (3), Clemson (6), UConn (8), North Carolina (10), Ohio State (13), Florida State (14), and Maryland (17).
ACC CAREER LEADERS
In just his third season with the Hurricanes (fourth overall playing college basketball), Jack McClinton ranks second among ACC all-time career leaders in free throw percentage (.897) and fourth in three-point percentage (.431).
Among active players in the ACC, McClinton ranks fifth overall with 1,255 career points. However, the transfer is the top scoring ACC player among those with only two full ACC seasons on their resumes.
Dwayne Collins ranks fourth among active players in the ACC with 507 career rebounds.
VERSUS NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
Since Miami began conference play in 1991-92, the Hurricanes have compiled a 138-63 (.687) record against non-conference opponents, including a 95-20 (.826) mark at home and a 41-6 (.872) record versus non-conference opponents at the BankUnited Center.
