Men's Basketball Faces Maryland Saturday

Jan. 30, 2009

Full listing of Raycom affiliates

COLLEGE PARK, MD… – The University of Miami men’s basketball team returns to the road for its third game of the week, looking for its first series sweep of the season at Maryland on Sat., Jan. 31.

Game 21: Miami (14-6, 3-4 ACC) at Maryland (13-7, 2-4 ACC)

Date: Sat., Jan. 31, 2009 | Time: 8 p.m. (EST) | Site: Comcast Center

TV: Full listing of Raycom affiliates (WBFS-My 33 in South Florida) | Radio:  560 WQAM

Websites: Miami (www.hurricanesports.com) |Maryland (www.umterps.com)

Projected Miami Starters

No.          Name (Pos/Ht/Wt/Cl)                                          Pts          Reb        Ast

01           Lance Hurdle (G, 6-2, 183, Sr.)                         7.2          1.5          2.7

33           Jack McClinton (G, 6-1, 185, Sr.)                      18.4        3.2          3.1

32           Brian Asbury (G/F, 6-7, 221, Sr.)                       7.2          4.7          1.1

30           Adrian Thomas (F, 6-7, 227, R-Jr.)                  5.0          2.4          0.8

21           Dwayne Collins (F, 6-8, 238, Jr.)                      12.6        7.6          1.0*

Projected Maryland Starters

No.          Name (Pos/Ht/Wt/Cl)                                          Pts          Reb        Ast

21           Greivis Vasquez (G, 6-6, 190, Jr.)                     16.4        5.7          4.7         

01           Landon Milbourne (F, 6-7, 201, Jr.)                  13.0        5.6          1.2^        

22           Adrian Bowie (G, 6-2, 180, So.)                        10.7        3.5          2.6         

05           Eric Hayes (G, 6-4, 179, Jr.)                              9.2          3.1          3.4         

35           Dave Neal (F, 6-7, 257, Sr.)                               7.4          4.2          0.9

^ blocks per game  * steals per game

Miami returns to the hardwood after dropping its second overtime game in three days, falling at NC State, 84-81, on Tuesday. It was the first time this season UM has lost back-to-back games. However, the Hurricanes don’t have time to dwell, as they face their third opponent of the week — and second straight on the road — at Maryland.

THE SERIES

Miami leads the all-time series versus Maryland, 10-5, and has won four straight over the Terps and six of the last seven contests between the teams. Under fifth-year head coach Frank Haith, the Hurricanes are 6-1 versus Maryland.

In their last meeting on Jan. 14 in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit with 12:32 to go to knock off the Terrapins, 62-60.

The 17-point comeback was the largest for any Miami team since joining conference play (Big East and ACC) in 1991 and marked the largest comeback this season in the ACC.  The previous high was 13 on two occasions, with the most recent a victory over Providence on January 19, 2002.

Key three-pointers from Lance Hurdle and Jack McClinton (including the final dagger with 23 seconds to go) fueled the Hurricane comeback. A steal and a fastbreak layup by Hurdle gave Miami its first lead of the night, 59-58 — with just 1:20 on the clock. Maryland’s Eric Hayes went two-of-two from the line to retake the 60-59 lead for the Terps with 41 second to go, but McClinton’s trey at the 23-second mark — followed by a pair of Greivis Vasquez three-point misses in the final five seconds — clinched the sixth-straight victory for the Hurricanes.

WHAT HAVE U DONE FOR ME LATELY

Jack McClinton has scored 20-or-more points in four-straight games and is averaging 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game over the three, while shooting .909 from the line (20-22) and .440 from long range (11-25).

Dwayne Collins is also performing like a “man-beast”  (as the team likes to say) offensively over the last three games, averaging 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while hitting .704 (19-27) from the field. He finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the overtime effort at NC State — including 12 points on six dunks.

Collins has scored in double figures in four-straight games and 14 times this season  — including two 20-plus point efforts in January. 

Brian Asbury has come on strong as of late and is contributing 16.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game over the last two outings, converting .565 from the field and hitting three three-pointers over that span to give him seven on the season.

LET’S TALK THOMAS

Speaking of contributors… After missing all but eight games over the last two seasons due to injury, redshirt junior Adrian Thomas is starting to shine for the Hurricanes. He has appeared in all 20 games this season and is averaging 8.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in seven ACC games — converting .523 from the field and .455 from long range.

Over the last four games, Thomas is averaging 10.0 points an outing — tops among bench players and third best overall behind Jack McClinton (24.0 ppg) and Dwayne Collins (16.0 ppg). He scored a career-high 14 points (including a career-high four treys) at NC State, 11 points in the win at Boston College and added 10-point performances at No. 5/6 North Carolina and in the home victory over Florida State.

Thomas is averaging 2.1 three-pointers per game in ACC play and has hit a three-pointer in seven consecutive games — the second-longest streak on the squad and the fifth-longest active streak in the ACC.

SHARING THE BALL

All 11 scholarship players who have played this season have scored in double-figures for the Hurricanes this season, led by Jack McClinton’s 19 double-figure scoring efforts in 20 games.

In Miami’s win over Boston College, five Hurricanes scored in double figures, while at least four Hurricanes have scored in double figures nine times this season – including on Tuesday at NC State.

Miami has 10 players averaging at least 12 minutes on the court per game — including six players contributing at least 6.0 points per game.