Men's Basketball Battles Florida State Sunday
Dec. 10, 2003
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Game Recaps in PDF Format
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FLORIDA STATE (7-0) vs. UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI (5-2)
Sunday, December 14, 2003 – 4:00 p.m.
Convocation Center (7,000) – Coral Gables, FL
TV – Fox Sports Net Florida; Radio – WQAM (560 AM);
Spanish Radio – Radio Unica (1210 AM); Website: hurricanesports.com
ON FLORIDA STATE:
Florida State enters its match-up with Miami with a record of 7-0 following an 83-46 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on December 6th. The Seminoles are off to their best start since opening 8-0 in 1988-89.
Florida State has been led this season by senior guard Tim Pickett who is averaging a team-high 16.1 points and 2.4 steals per game. Pickett has connected on 40-84 (.476) from the field this season including a blistering 24-50 (.480) from three-point range.
The Seminoles other double-figure scorer this season is junior forward Anthony Richardson who is averaging 12.7 points and a team-high 5.3 rebounds per game.
As a team the Seminoles are shooting 50.1 percent (195-389) from the field while holding their opponents to just 34.9 percent (130-373) shooting. Florida State opponents are averaging just 53.6 points per game this season.
THE SERIES:
Miami and Florida State meet for the 52nd time. The Seminoles lead the all-time series 27-24 including a 72-55 win last season in Tallahassee.
Miami and Florida State have faced off seven times since the Hurricanes resurrected its basketball program in 1985. Since 1985 Florida State has won all four games in Tallahassee while the Hurricanes have won all three games in Miami.
Miami and Florida State first met on January 19, 1951 with the Hurricanes taking an 80-61 decision in Miami. The Hurricanes are 21-7 all-time at home versus the Seminoles.
UP NEXT:
Up next for the Hurricanes is a battle with perennial Temple on December 20 at the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at AmericanAirlines Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Miami and Temple will be facing off for the just the second time in basketball. The only other meeting took place during the 1961-62 season.
LAST GAME:
MIAMI 61, UMBC 52
December 9, 2003
Convocation Center, Coral Gables, FL
Robert Hite scored 13 of his 18 points during a late second-half rally to lead Miami to a 61-52 win over UMBC in the Convocation Center.
Down 23-21 at the half, Miami used a 13-2 run to take control of the game. William Frisby’s dunk with just over six minutes left gave Miami a 45-43 lead, its first since leading 4-2 in the first half.
Hite, who was 5-of-6 shooting in the second half, tied the game with a three-point play, then capped Miami’s run with a layup to give the Hurricanes a 47-43 lead. Darius Rice scored 12 points, and Frisby chipped in 10 for Miami.
Rob Gogerty led UMBC (2-3) with 19 points, while Cory McJimson added 10.
The win was Miami’s 24th consecutive home victory against a non-conference opponent. The Hurricanes improve to 5-0 at home this season.
The Hurricanes shot 55 percent in the second half after hitting 33 percent in the first half. The Retrievers also turned the ball over 11 times in the second half.
LAST SEASON VS. FLORIDA STATE:
FLORIDA STATE 72, MIAMI 55
Decmeber 8, 2002
Leon County Civic Center, Tallahassee, FL
Tim Pickett scored a game-high 17 points, all of them coming in the first half, as Florida State defeated Miami, 72-55, at Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center.
Pickett shot 4-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-10 from behind the three- point line, while Anthony Richardson chipped in with 14 points and Todd Galloway 11 in the victory for the Seminoles.
Miami, which had won three straight to start the year, has now lost two in a row after falling to Florida Atlantic in its previous game.
James Jones scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Darius Rice added 11 for the Hurricanes, who shot just 28.3 percent from the field in the game and 21.7 percent from three-point range.
The Hurricanes scored the first points of the game, but from there on out it was all Florida State as it took advantage of a 12-1 run thereafter and cruise to a 39-28 edge at the break.
In the second half the Seminoles maintained their double-digit lead throughout, eventually claiming the 17-point win.
Miami shot just 5-of-23 from three-point range, compared to 9-of-19 for Florida State.
A WIN AGAINST FSU WOULD:
Improve Miami’s record to 6-2 on the season.Mark UM’s fourth straight victory.Improve Miami’s home record to 6-0.Mark Miami’s 25th consecutive home win against a non-conference opponent.
TV/RADIO COVERAGE:
Miami’s game versus Florida State will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net Florida. Frank Forte will provide the play-by-play with Bob Wenzel adding analysis.
The game will be broadcast on the Hurricane Radio Network WQAM (560 AM). 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.
The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on Radio Unica (1210 AM). Fans can also catch the game on the web at hurricanesports.com.
ON THE COACHES:
University of Miami head coach Perry Clark is in his fourth season with the Hurricanes and 15th season overall as a collegiate head coach. Clark is 56-40 (.583) at Miami while his career record in 14 seasons stands at 241-185 (.566).
Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton is in his 2nd season with the Seminoles and 16 season overall. His record at FSU is 21-15 (.583) while his overall mark is 221-225 (.496).
MIAMI vs. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS:
Since joining The BIG EAST Conference beginning with the 1991-92 season, the Hurricanes have compiled an 86-41 (.677) record against non-conference opponents, including a 60-13 mark (.822) at home. Miami is 5-2 against non-conference opponents this season. Miami has won 24 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.
VS THE STATE OF FLORIDA:
Miami is 295-144 (.672) against teams from the state of Florida. Miami has won 30 of its last 33 games against Florida schools dating back to the 1992-93 season.
VERSUS THE ACC:
Miami holds a 34-51 (.400) record against Atlantic Coast Conference teams. The Florida State game will be the first of two against ACC competition this season for Miami. The Hurricanes will take on North Carolina on January 7th.
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.
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.
CATCHING FIRE:
Darius Rice has recorded 27 games of 20-or-more points during his UM career including two games this season. Even more impressive is the fact that Rice has gone for 20-or-more points in a single half a total of nine times during his career.
CLARK TOPS AMONG UM COACHES:
Fourth-year head Coach Perry Clark 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. Clark is 4-2 this season giving him 56 wins as UM’s head coach. The most wins by a UM coach in his first four seasons is 65 set by Bill Foster from 1985-89.
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.
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.
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).
PLAYING HIS BEST AGAINST THE BEST:
UM forward Darius Rice shined last season in the big games. Last season 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.
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 really heated up late in the season last year averaging 20.2 points after January 1st.
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.
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.
HURRICANES DISTRIBUTE DINNERS:
Members of the University of Miami men’s basketball team as well as several student-athletes from the Hurricanes’ football, women’s rowing, women’s track, women’s volleyball, men’s tennis and women’s soccer programs handed out Thanksgiving dinners to six Miami-area organizations prior to the start of the women’s basketball exhibition game versus The Tournament of Champions on November 17 at the Convocation Center.
The six Miami-area organizations who picked up dinners were: Children & Families, Ronald McDonald House, Gladstone Center, Florida Baptist Home, Universal Truth Center, and Child Hope. The full dinners were donated by Sysco Food Services of South Florida. This Thanksgiving marked the eighth consecutive year that University of Miami Athletic Department and its student-athletes have reached out to the community during the holidays.
UM SIGNS CENTER EARLY:
Head coach Perry Clark signed of 6-11, 233 pound center Chester “C.J.” Giles (Seattle, Wash.) to a national letter of intent during the early signing period.
Last season Giles averaged 8.2 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks per game earning third-team All-State honors and helping Rainier Beach High School to a 26-3 record and its second consecutive Class 3A State Championship. Rainier ended the season ranked 16th in the nation by USA Today.
Giles is ranked 39th overall and 7th at his position by Rivals.com. He is the 12th ranked high school center in the nation by Athlon Sports, is ranked among the Top-100 players in the nation by Lindy’s (No. 66) and The Sporting News (No. 87), and is an honorable mention All-America selection by Street & Smith’s.
MINI PLAN TICKETS ON SALE:
UM is 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.
