Men's Basketball Takes On Clemson This Wednesday

Jan. 24, 2005

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CLEMSON UNIVERSITY (10-8, 1-5)
at
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI (12-5, 3-3)
When: January 26, 2005 – 7:30 p.m.
Where: Convocation Center (7,000) – Coral Gables, Fla.
TV: None
Radio: WQAM (560 AM); WVUM (90.5 FM); XM Satellite Radio (Ch. 180)
Websites: UM (www.hurricanesports.com); CU (www.ClemsonTigers.com)
Up Next: @ #5/#5 Wake Forest- Jan. 29 at 4:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15, $25, $30 – Call 305-284-CANE in Dade or 1-800-GO-CANES

ON CLEMSON:
The Clemson Tigers enter its matchup with Miami with a record of 10-8, 1-5 in the ACC, following an 81-79 loss at Virginia on Saturday night. The Tigers have lost three straight and five of their last six games. Clemson, which has played the 15th hardest schedule according to CollegeRPI.com, is 2-4 on the road this season which includes losses at Boston College (79-70), Duke (62-54) and Virginia Tech (59-57). Clemson recorded an impressive win at South Carolina (63-62) on Dec. 4th. Clemson leads the ACC with 32 freshman starts. Cliff Hammonds is second among ACC freshmen in scoring (9.6 ppg), assists (2.7 apg) and steals (1.6 spg). The Tigers have been led this season by senior center Sharron Ford who leads the team in both scoring (14.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg). Ford ranks fourth among active ACC players with 645 career rebounds. Clemson’s defense is holding teams to just 65.3 points per game which ranks fourth in the ACC and ranks third in the league in steals averaging 10.56 per game.

ON THE COACHES:
Frank Haith was named Miami’s 11th head men’s basketball coach on April 12, 2004. In his 15 seasons as an assistant at the D-I level, he has helped lead teams that have won an NIT Championship, advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen three times, reached one Elite Eight and one Final Four. Haith is 12-5 this season with the Hurricanes. Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell is in his second season with the Tigers and 17th season overall. His record at Clemson is 20-26 (.435) while his overall record is 276-217 (.560). Purnell has been a Division I Conference Coach of the Year in three different conferences earning the honor while at Radford (Big South), Old Dominion (CAA) and Dayton (Atlantic 10).

LAST GAME – #6/#6 NORTH CAROLINA 87, MIAMI 67
January 22, 2005
Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Sean May recorded a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds, and Jawad Williams and Jackie Manuel each added 14 as North Carolina defeated Miami 87-67 at the Dean Smith Center. Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants added 10 points apiece for the Tar Heels. Miami was led by Guillermo Diaz who finished with 30 points. UM leading scorer Robert Hite was held to six points, 12 below his season average. The Hurricanes hung in early and were down 29-25 with 4:29 to play in the first half. The Tar Heels then finished the half on an 11-1 run. Quentin Thomas and Melvin Scott each made two free throws and Manuel connected from long range to increase the margin to 11, and Felton later closed out the half with two more free throws for a 40-26 lead. North Carolina was 17-of-19 at the line in the opening 20 minutes, while Miami was only 5-of-8. The second half was more of the same and the Hurricanes would get no closer than 13 points.

LAST TIME VERSUS CLEMSON:
MIAMI 67, CLEMSON 65
November 20, 2001
Virgin Islands Paradise Jam
Health and Fitness Center, St. Thomas, VI
Senior guard John Salmons registered 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the University of Miami (3-0) to a thrilling 67-65 win over Clemson (2-1) in the championship game of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. Salmons, who averaged 17.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.67 steals during the three-game event, was picked as the tournament’s MVP. The Hurricanes (3-0) led 67-62 with 2 minutes remaining before Clemson’s Chris Hobbs cut the lead to two with a three-point play with 47 seconds left. After both teams missed chances, Clemson inbounded with 4.5 seconds to go. Hobbs missed a short shot and teammate Edward Scott missed a jumper as time ran out. Sophomore guard Marcus Barnes added 13 points for Miami while sophomore forward Darius Ricecontributed a team-high eight rebounds. Rice was selected to the All-Tournament team. Hobbs had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers. Jamar McKnight also scored 19 for Clemson.

TV/RADIO:
The Miami-Clemson will not be televised. The game will be broadcast on the Hurricane Radio Network, WQAM (560 AM). Joe Zagacki “The Voice of the Hurricanes” will call the action with Josh Darrow adding analysis. Brian London will serve as studio host. The game will also be broadcast on WVUM (90.5 FM), the University of Miami student radio network.

THE SERIES:
Miami and Clemson meet for the seventh time with the Tigers leading the all-time series 1-5. The Hurricanes last met the Tigers on November 11, 2001 in the Championship game of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam with Miami winning 67-65.

TALKING RPI:
As of January 23 the Hurricanes were No. 66 in the RPI rankings according to CollegeRPI.com. The ACC is currently the nation’s top-rated conference and has eight teams ranked among the top-70 in the RPI.

MIAMI’S LETHAL WEAPON III:
Miami’s three guard line-up of Guillermo Diaz (18.8 ppg), Robert Hite (17.5 ppg) and Anthony Harris (12.3 ppg) have been difficult for Hurricane opponents to contend with this season. The trio have combined to average 48.5 points per game, or 66.0 percent (825 of 1250) of the teams scoring this season.

ACC’S TOP SCORING TRIOS:
The University of Miami trio of Robert Hite, Guillermo Diaz and Anthony Harris has combined to score 825 of UM’s 1250 total points this season. The three have accounted for 66.0 percent of the team’s scoring which is the highest of any trio in the ACC. Duke’s J.J. Redick, Daniel Ewing and Shelden Williams rank second having accounted for 65.6 percent (808 of 1231) of the Blue Devils’ scoring this season. In addition UM’s guards are the second highest scoring scoring trio in the ACC averaging 48.5 points per game. Duke (53.8 ppg) ranks first.

HITTING THE OFFENSIVE GLASS:
Miami is the top-ranked offensive rebounding team in the ACC averaging 15.35 offensive rebounds per game. The Hurricanes have taken advantage of their second chance opportunities converting their 261 offensive rebounds this season into 286 total points, or 1.09 points per offensive rebound. Miami is averaging 16.8 points per game off offensive rebounds or 22.8 percent of the team’s scoring. Miami has three players that rank among the top-10 in the ACC in offensive rebounding including Anthony King (2nd), William Frisby (4th) and Gary Hamilton (5th).

TAKING ADVANTAGE:
This season the Hurricanes have been able to take advantage of opponent turnovers. Miami is averaging 1.0 point per turnover forced (238 points/238 opponent turnovers).