2003-2004 Men's Basketball Prospectus

July 17, 2003

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DID YOU KNOW?:
The University of Miami has registered a 50-32 (.610) conference mark since the 1998-99 season. UM’s record ranks in a tie for third among BIG EAST teams over that period.

COMING ON STRONG:
Miami forward Darius Rice has really heated up in the new year averaging 20.2 points per game after January 1st.

PLAYING HIS BEST AGAINST THE BEST:
UM forward Darius Rice shined last season in the big games. Against ranked teams Rice averaged 34.3 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 35-69 (.507) from the floor and 15-33 (.455) from three-point range.

CARRYING THE LOAD:
Darius Rice (18.7 ppg) and James Jones (16.9 ppg) shouldered the scoring load for the Hurricanes last season. The two accounted for half (50%) of Miami’s points. Either Rice or Jones led the Hurricanes in scoring in all but one game last season.

RICE NAMED ALL-DISTRICT SIX FIRST-TEAM
Darius Rice was named first-team All-District 6 for the second consecutive season by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Rice joins Tim James (1998, 1999) as the only Hurricanes to earn first-team All-District honors in consecutive seasons. He currently ranks among the BIG EAST Conference leaders in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, three-point field goal percentage and three-point field goals made.

Rice, who was a second-team All-District selection as a freshman, joins UM legend Rick Barry (1963, 1964, 1965) as the only Miami basketball players to earn All-District honors in three straight seasons.

The selection of Rice marks the sixth consecutive season the Hurricanes have had at least one All-District selection.

NABC All-District 6
First-Team
Matt Bonner (Florida)
Erwin Dudley (Alabama)
Jarvis Hayes (Georgia)
Darius Rice (Miami, FL)
Mario Austin (Mississippi State)

RICE SEEING 20-20:
With his 32 points against Virginia Tech last season, Darius Rice recorded his fourth consecutive game of 20 or more points. It marked the first time in his UM career he had posted four consecutive games of 20 or more points. The last player to record four straight 20-point games was Tim James who posted five straight during the 1998-99 season. Rice recorded nine games of 20 or more points last season.

NO DAY AT THE BEACH:
Miami’s 73-72 win over No. 11 Connecticut last season marked the ninth consecutive season that the Hurricanes defeated a ranked opponent at home.

WORKING OVERTIME:
Miami played a school single-season record five overtime games last season. Miami finished 1-4 in those overtime games. Miami has played at least one overtime contest in each of the last five seasons. UM has amassed a 9-6 record (including tournament games) in BIG EAST overtime contests (5-3 at home). The ‘Canes own a 25-24 overall record in overtime contests during their history (5-5 in double-overtime games and a 20-19 mark in single-overtime contests).

MR. CLUTCH:
Darius Rice’s three-point basket with 0.5 seconds left to defeat Connecticut on January 20th marked the fourth time last season the forward hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation to either win the game or send the game to overtime.

With the Hurricanes’ down 72-69 to Florida , Rice connected on a three-pointer from the right corner with 26 seconds remaining to tie the score. Florida went on to win the game 94-93 in double-overtime.

On January 4th against North Carolina, Rice hit a three-pointer, again from the right corner, to tie the score at 60-60 with three seconds left. Miami went on to win the game 64-61.

In Miami’s first meeting with Connecticut on January 11, Rice sent the game to overtime with a three-pointer from the tip of the key tying the score at 71-71 with two seconds left. Connecticut won the game 83-80.

BEING THROWN INTO THE FIRE:
Miami relied heavenly on four of its freshmen last season. Robert Hite, Armondo Surratt, Eric Wilkins and Gary Hamilton started a combined 50 games and all averaged 16 or more minutes per game. The 50 combined freshmen starts were the most since the 1985-86 season, UM’s first since the program was dropped in 1971, when Eric Brown (27), Dennis Burns (20), Bryan Hughes (28), Kevin Presto (28) and Mark Richardson (18) combined to start 121 games.

Twice last season the Hurricanes have had three freshmen in the starting line-up. Miami had at least one freshman in the starting lineup in all but one game last season.

CATCHING FIRE:
Darius Rice tied for the team lead with nine games of 20-or-more points last season. Three times last season Rice went for 20-or-more points in a single half including a season-high 27 points in the first half of Miami’s 77-76 win over Connecticut on January 20.

VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS:
Miami was 1-2 against ranked teams this season. The Hurricanes are 19-19 versus ranked opponents since 1996-97 and have defeated at least one ranked team in each of the last nine seasons. Miami is 28-84 (.250) all-time against ranked teams including a 25-70 (.263) record since the rebirth of the program in 1985.

MIAMI vs. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS:
Since joining The BIG EAST Conference beginning with the 1991-92 season, the Hurricanes have compiled an 81-39 (.672) record against non-conference opponents, including a 56-13 mark (.809) at home. Miami finished 7-4 against non-conference opponents this season and has won 24 of its last 29 games against non-conference teams. Miami has won 20 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents.

A SWEEPING SUCCESS:
With its win over Virginia Tech on March 5, Miami recorded a two-game season sweep over the Hokies. Miami has registered 18 BIG EAST regular season two-game sweeps since joining the league in the 1991-92 season. The Hurricanes have recorded at least one series sweep in each of the last nine seasons.

MIAMI CHRISTENS CONVOCATION CENTER:
The Hurricanes christened the Convocation Center, the new on-campus home of men’s and women’s basketball, and the University’s first large-capacity venue for other educational, cultural and community events with a 64-61 overtime win over North Carolina on January 4. The $48 million facility, totally funded through private donations, seats 7,000 for basketball and provides the University and the Coral Gables community with a facility designed for a wide array of uses.

UM LEAVES MIAMI ARENA IN STYLE:
Miami ended its 14-year run at Miami Arena with a 68-62 victory over Lehigh on December 30. Miami began playing its home games at the Miami Arena in 1988 and registered a 135-66 (.672) record including a 5-0 record this season. Since 1994-95 the Hurricanes had compiled a 98-26 (.790) overall home record at the Arena.

RICE JOINS 1000-POINT CLUB:
Miami junior forward Darius Rice scored 32 points against Florida last season to become the 26th player in UM history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Rick Barry who holds the Miami career scoring record with 2,298 points.

RICE MOVES UP 3-POINT LIST:
Darius Rice has recorded 67 three-point baskets last season giving him 205 for his career which places him second on UM’s all-time career list behind Steven Edwards who connected on 265 three-point baskets from 1992-96.

EASY AS 1, 2, 3:
Miami failed to hit a three-point basket against Indiana during the 2001-02 season marking just the third time in school-history that UM failed to connect on at least one three-pointer. Miami has hit at least one trey in 490 of 493 games since the NCAA adopted the three-point shot in 1986.

The only other games in which UM failed to hit a three-pointer were versus St. John’s on March 5, 2000 (0-13) and against Howard University on December 6, 1991 (0-15). Miami is 2-1 all-time when failing to hit a three-pointer.

RICE’S NIGHT:
Darius Rice poured in a career-high 43 points against Connecticut on Jan. 20 tying him for third on the BIG EAST all-time single-game scoring list. The point total was the most in a BIG EAST game since Feb. 20, 1996 when UM forward Steve Rich posted 43 points against St. John’s.

OFFENSIVELY SPEAKING:
Miami shot a 29-55 (.527) from the field against Virginia Tech on March 5 marking the fourth time this season in which the Hurricanes have shot 50 percent or better from the field. Since the 1998-99 season the Hurricanes are 26-2 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field.

GETTING DEFENSIVE:
Last season Miami’s defense was been adept at forcing its opponents into turnovers. The Hurricanes forced 497 turnovers (17.8 per game) while scoring 513 points off those turnovers (18.3 points per game). Miami recorded 26.2 percent (513 of 1956) of its total points this season off turnovers.

WATCH YOUR WALLETS:
The University of Miami ended the season ranked No.1 in the BIG EAST and 10th in the nation in steals. UM recorded 272 steals (9.7 spg) last season including a school-record 21 against Savannah State on Dec. 30.

LOCKING UP:
Last season Miami made a habit of holding teams without a field goal for long stretches. The Hurricanes held teams without a field goal for five minutes or more a total of 14 times while holding teams scoreless for five or more minutes four times.