Hurricanes Host Lubbock Christian Friday
Nov. 19, 2003
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LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
vs.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Las Vegas Tournament
Friday, November 21, 2003 – 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Convocation Center (7,000) – Coral Gables, FL
TV – None; Radio – WRBF(1020 AM)
Website: hurricanesports.com
ON LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN:
Lubbock Christian University returns just three lettermen and two starters from last season’s squad that finished 17-17 overall including an 8-10 record in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The two starters however are two of the Chaparrals’ top three scorers from 2002-03.
Junior guard Brandon Jones returns after a stellar sophomore season in which he averaged a team-high 17.3 points per game while shooting 45.3 percent (175-386) from the field and 44.8 percent (90-201) from three-point range.
Also returning is 6-8 senior center Matt Rawls who averaged 10.9 points and 4.0 rebounds last season. Rawls led the team in field goal percentage shooting 57.6 percent (121-210) from the field .
Lubbock Christian, an NAIA institution, has three games prior to its match-up with the Hurricanes with home games against Texas-Permian Basin (Nov. 13) and West Texas A&M (Nov. 15), before heading to Texas-Permian Basin (Nov. 17).
THE SERIES:
This is the first meeting between the University of Miami and Lubbock Christian.
UP NEXT:
Following the Lubbock Christian game the Hurricanes continue with the Las Vegas Tournament hosting Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday, November 23 at noon at the Convocation Center. Miami concludes the Las Vegas Tournament with games against Rhode Island (Nov. 25) and Bradley (Nov. 26) in Las Vegas, Nev.
TV/RADIO COVERAGE:
Miami’s game versus Lubbock Christian will not be televised. The game will be broadcast on the Hurricane Radio Network on station yet to be determined. Joe Zagacki “The Voice of the Hurricanes” will handle the play-by-play with Josh Darrow adding analysis. Brian London will serve as studio host. Fans can also catch the game on the web at hurricanesports.com.
A WIN AGAINST LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN WOULD:
***Improve Miami’s record to 1-0 on the season.
***Mark Miami’s 10th straight season opening win.
***Mark UM’s 21st straight home win against non-conference opponents.
ON THE COACHES:
University of Miami head coach Perry Clark is beginning his fourth season with the Hurricanes and 15th season overall as a collegiate head coach. Clark is 51-38 (.573) in three seasons at Miami while his career record in 14 seasons stands at 236-183 (.563).
Lubbock Christian head coach John Copeland is entering his 25th season, all with the Chaparrals. His record in 24 seasons is 363-315 (.535).
FOR OPENERS:
Miami’s game versus Lubbock Christian marks the season opener for the Hurricanes. Miami has won its last 10 season openers and is 16-2 (.889) in season openers since the rebirth of the program in 1985. Miami’s all-time record in season opening games is 41-12 (.774).
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 last 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. Miami’s last home loss to a non-conference opponent was a 60-57 defeat against Kentucky on January 29, 2000 at Miami Arena.
RICE NAMED WOODEN AWARD CANDIDATE:
Senior forward Darius Rice has been named one of 50 preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden College Basketball Player of the Year Award.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his university that he is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.
The 2004 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American team and the presentation of the Legends of Coaching Award, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on Saturday, April 10, 2004 and will be broadcast live on CBS.
RICE NAMED NAISMITH CANDIDATE:
Darius Rice has been named one of 30 preseason candidates for the 2003-04 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award.
The Naismith Awards program, now in its 36th year, honors the outstanding college basketball players in the United States. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of student-athletes in basketball.
The candidates were selected by a vote of the Board of Selectors comprised of leading basketball coaches, journalists and basketball analysts. Members of the board were asked to name top male and female players who are most likely to be in contention for the award.
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.
TOP RECRUITING CLASS:
Head coach Perry Clark and his staff put together one of the nation’s top recruiting classes for this upcoming season. Miami’s class of forward Karron Clarke, guard Guillermo Diaz, forward/center Leonard Harden III, guard Anthony Harris and forward/center Anthony King is ranked as high as eighth in the nation by Street & Smith’s.
CLARK TOPS AMONG UM COACHES:
Fourth-year head Coach Perry Clark has recorded 51 wins in his first three seasons with the Hurricanes marking the most wins by any UM basketball coach in his first three seasons.
HIGH FLYERS:
The University of Miami’s backcourt may be the most athletic in the country. Miami’s guards have an average vertical jump of 38.2 inches. All of UM’s guards have vertical jumps of at least 36 inches. Leading the way is freshman Guillermo Diaz who has a vertical leap of 41 inches.
MIAMI SPLITS EXHIBITION GAMES:
The University of Miami finished 1-1 in its two exhibition games falling 88-86 to Nike Elite on November 2 and recording a 93-67 win over Team Georgia on November 12. Darius Rice led UM averaging 30.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in the two games while shooting 22-36 (.611) from the field, 8-13 (.615) from three-point range and 8-11 (.727) from the free throw line.
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.
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 UConn.
BEING THROWN INTO THE FIRE:
Miami relied heavenly on four of its freshmen last season. Rob 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 wee 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.
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.
COMING ON STRONG:
Miami forward Darius Rice has really heated late in the season last year averaging 20.2 points after January 1st.
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).
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.
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.
IT’S ALL ACADEMIC:
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the University of Miami men’s basketball program ranks third in the nation among the 117 Division I-A institutions with a 78 percent graduation rate for student-athletes who entered school from 1993-97 and earned their degrees within six years.
Only Stanford (100%) and Southern Methodist (83%) had higher graduation rates among Division I-A institutions. The national average for Division I-A men’s basketball players over that four-year period was 36 percent.
In addition the Hurricanes ranked in a tie for 19th among all 327 Division I institutions.
Graduation rates were tabulated and released by the NCAA in its 2003 NCAA Graduation Rates Report. The Hurricanes’ 78 percent graduation rate is the highest among any institution in the BIG EAST, ACC or SEC.
From 1993-94 to 1995-96 the Hurricanes registered a perfect 100 percent graduation rate.
For the 1995-96 class, both the UM men’s and women’s basketball programs registered 100 percent graduation rates. Miami was one of only six Division I-A institutions, along with BYU, Duke, Rice, North Carolina and Virginia Tech, to record a 100 percent graduation rate for that class in both men’s and women’s basketball.
SINGLE GAME/MINI PLAN TICKETS ON SALE:
Single-game tickets for all 10 University of Miami men’s basketball non-conference home games, including clashes with Florida State, Florida International and Florida Atlantic, are now available at the Hurricane Ticket Office for as little as $15.
UM is also offering a new Saturday “7” mini-plan, which includes tickets for all seven of Miami’s Saturday games, for just $140. The plan includes some of Miami’s biggest games including match-ups with intra-state rivals Florida International and Florida Atlantic, as well as BIG EAST games versus Pittsburgh, Georgetown, defending NCAA Champion Syracuse, and West Virginia.
Season-ticket packages for all 18 Miami home games, including defending National Champion Syracuse, are also available for as little as $175.
The Hurricane Ticket Office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Fans wishing to place orders by phone can call the UM Ticket Office at (305) 284-CANE in Dade, or 1-800-GO-CANES outside Dade County.
