Hurricanes Face Sixth-Ranked Duke On Thursday

Hurricanes Face Sixth-Ranked Duke On Thursday

March 1, 2005

Complete Release in PDF Format
dot.gifspacer.gifDownload Free Acrobat Reader

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI (16-10, 7-8)
at
#6/#6 DUKE UNIVERSITY (21-4, 10-4)
When: March 3, 2005 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) – Durham, N.C.
TV: ESPN
Radio: WQAM (560 AM)
Websites: UM (www.hurricanesports.com); Duke (www.GoDuke.com)
Up Next: ACC Tournament, March 10-13, at MCI Center, Washington, D.C.
Tickets: Call (305) 284-CANE in Dade, or 1-800-GO-CANES

ON DUKE:
Duke welcomes the University of Miami to Cameron Indoor Stadium for Senior Night following a 58-47 win at St. John’s on February 26th. The Blue Devils enter the game with a record of 21-4, 10-4 in the ACC, and a No. 6 national ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls. The Blue Devils, who have won three straight, have been led this season by the backcourt of J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing, as well as the inside presence of Shelden Williams. Redick leads the ACC in scoring (22.5 ppg) and is second in free throw percentage (.934), while Ewing ranks third on the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and leads the team in assists (3.6 apg) and steals (1.9 spg). Williams leads the conference in rebounding (11.4 rpg) and blocks averaging 3.7 rejections per game. The 6-9 forward is also averaging 15.6 points per game and has connected on 146-247 (.591) of his field goal attempts. Duke is one of the top defensive teams in the ACC ranking second in the conference in field goal percentage defense (.396) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.314). Duke leads the ACC in blocks (6.8).

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 16-10 this season with the Hurricanes and needs just one more win to tie the UM record for most wins by a first-year coach. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is in his 25th season with the Blue Devils and 30th season overall. His record at Duke is 642-185 (.776) while his overall mark is 715-244 (.746).

A WIN VERSUS DUKE WOULD:
Improve Miami’s record to 17-10 overall and 8-8 in the ACC.
Improve Miami’s road record this season to 6-4.
Give Miami a split of the season series with Duke.
Mark Miami’s fourth win over a ranked opponent this season.
Mark Miami’s first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Tie Frank Haith with Ron Godfrey (1967-68) for most wins (17) by a first year coach at Miami.

TV/RADIO:
The Miami-Duke game will be broadcast live on ESPN. Mike Patrick will handle the play-by-play duties with Len Elmore adding analysis. The game will also 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 SERIES:
Miami and Duke meet for the second time this season and the seventh time overall. The Blue Devils lead the all-time series, 5-1, including a 93-82 win in Coral Gables on January 19. Miami holds a 1-2 home record against Duke. The Blue Devils have won the last five meetings and are 2-0 against Miami at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

SERIES RESULTS:
Date Result Location
12-21-62 UM 71, Duke 69 Miami
2-19-86 Duke 104, UM 82 Duke
12-22-86 Duke 74, UM 67 Miami
1-6-88 Duke 107, UM 69 Duke
12-10-88 Duke 117, UM 102 Miami
1-19-05 Duke 92, UM 83 Miami

TALKING RPI:
As of February 28 the Hurricanes were No. 63 in the RPI rankings according to CollegeRPI.com. The ACC is currently the nation’s top-rated conference and has seven teams ranked among the top-64 in the RPI.

RPI Team
4 Wake Forest
7 North Carolina
8 Duke
38 Maryland
44 Georgia Tech
59 Virginia
63 MIAMI
86 North Carolina State
100 Clemson
116 Virginia Tech
151 Florida State

VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS:
The Hurricanes are 21-24 (.467) versus ranked opponents since 1996-97 and have defeated at least one ranked team in 10 of the last 11 seasons. Miami is 30-90 (.250) all-time against ranked teams including a 27-75 (.265) record since the rebirth of the program in 1985.

PLAYING HIS BEST AGAINST THE BEST: This season Miami sophomore guard Guillermo Diaz has played his best when facing the best. Miami has faced eight ranked teams this season and in those games Diaz is averaging 24.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He is shooting 69-138 (.500) from the field against ranked teams this season including 25-57 (.439) from three-point range. Diaz has scored 20-or-more points in seven of the eight games versus ranked opponents.

PLAYING LIKE A FIRST-TEAMER:
Guillermo Diaz has put together a season worthy of first team All-ACC consideration. As of February 27th, Diaz is the only player in the ACC to rank among the league leaders (conference games only) in scoring (2nd), rebounding (22nd), field goal percentage (7th), three-point field goal percentage (9th) and steals (3rd). Here is how Diaz’s numbers in conference games match-up with the some of the league’s top guards.

ROCKING THE CONVO:
The University of Miami recorded five sellouts in ACC play this season (NC State, Duke, Maryland, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech) and had an average attendance of 6,378 in eight league games. Miami average attendance in ACC games this season marked a 95% increase over last season. The Hurricanes’ average attendance in eight BIG EAST games last year was 3,270. UM’s overall attendance average was 4,303 this season which marked a 69% increase over last season.

FIRST-YEAR SUCCESS:
Head coach Frank Haith has guided the Hurricanes to a 16-10 record heading into Miami’s regular-season finale. The 16 wins ties him for the second most by a first-year coach at Miami. The school-record for victories by a coach in his first season at Miami is 17 set by Ron Godfrey during the 1967-68 season. The team’s .615 winning percentage ties for the best by a first-year coach at Miami during the post-World War II era.

Record Coach (Season)
17-11 (.607) Ron Godfrey (1967-68)
16-10 (.615) Frank Haith (2004-05)
16-13 (.552) Perry Clark (2000-01)
15-16 (.484) Bill Foster (1986-87)
13-6 (.684) Tom McCann (1928-29)
10-11 (.476) Bruce Hale (1954-55)
9-19 (.321) Leonard Hamilton (1990-91)
8-5 (.615) W.H. Steers (1945-46)
8-12 (.400) Dave Wike (1952-53)
7-1 (.875) Art Webb (1926-27)
4-6 (.400) Hart Morris (1938-39)

MIAMI’S LETHAL WEAPON III:
Miami’s three guard line-up of Guillermo Diaz (18.6 ppg), Robert Hite (17.2 ppg) and Anthony Harris (12.5 ppg) have combined to average 48.3 points per game, or 66.8 percent (1256 of 1880) of the teams scoring this season.

ACC’S TOP SCORING TRIOS:
The Miami trio of Robert Hite, Guillermo Diaz and Anthony Harris have accounted for 66.8 percent of the team’s scoring which is the highest of any scoring trio in the ACC. Duke’s J.J. Redick, Daniel Ewing and Shelden Williams rank second accounting for 66.3 percent (1336 of 2016) of the Blue Devils’ scoring this season. In addition UM’s guards are the second highest scoring trio in the ACC averaging 48.3 points per game. Duke (53.4 ppg) ranks first.

HITTING THE OFFENSIVE GLASS:
Miami is the top-ranked offensive rebounding team in the ACC averaging 14.88 offensive rebounds per game. The Hurricanes have taken advantage of their second chance opportunities converting their 387 offensive rebounds this season into 397 total points, or 1.03 points per offensive rebound. Miami is averaging 15.3 points per game off offensive rebounds or 21.1 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 (3rd), William Frisby (5th) and Gary Hamilton (10th). No other ACC school has more than one player ranked among the top-10 in offensive rebounding.

HITE REACHES 1,000:
Rob Hite recorded 17 points against Virginia Tech to become the 27th player in UM history to score 1,000 career points. Hite currently ranks 22nd on UM’s career scoring list with 1,086 career points. Hite needs 47 points to pass Constantin Popa (1991-95) into 21st place. Miami’s all-time leading scorer is Rick Barry who recorded 2,298 points from 1962-65.

24 AND COUNTING:
Miami guard Guillermo Diaz has scored in double-figures in 24 consecutive games. The streak is currently the longest in the ACC. North Carolina’s Raymond Felton is second having scored in double-figures in 13 straight games. Diaz’ streak is the fourth-longest since UM reinstated the program in 1985-86.

Current ACC Double-Figure Scoring Streaks:
24 Guillermo Diaz, Miami
13 Raymond Felton, North Carolina
12 J.J. Redick, Duke
12 Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech
11 Eric Williams, Wake Forest
10 Sean May, North Carolina
8 Chris McCray, Maryland

Top UM Double-Figure Scoring Streaks (Since 1985-86):
55 Johnny Hemsley, 1998-2000
38 Eric Brown, 1987-89
26 Steven Edwards, 1992-93
24 Guillermo Diaz, 2004-05
22 Robert Hite, 2003-04
22 Tim James, 1998-99