Men's Basketball Takes on Marist in Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Nov. 14, 2007
Complete Game Notes | Puerto Rico Tip-Off Bracket | Live Stats
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The University of Miami men’s basketball team hits the road for the first time in 2007-08, heading south to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for three games in the inaugural O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Miami opens competiton on Thurs., Nov. 15, versus Marist, and will face either Houston or VCU in Friday’s second round. The first two rounds will be broadcast on ESPNU, while Sunday’s championship game will be shown on ESPN2.
Game 2: Marist (1-0) vs. Miami (1-0)
Date: Thursday, Nov. 11, 2007 | Time: 11:30 a.m. (EST) | Site: Coliseo de Puerto Rico
TV: ESPNU | Radio: 1360 AM | Internet Video: None
Websites: Miami (www.hurricanesports.com) | Marist (www.goredfoxes.com)
Tickets: 866-994-0001
Probable Miami Starters
No. Name (Pos/Ht/Wt/Cl) Pts/Reb/Ast
1 Lance Hurdle (G, 6-2, 180, Jr.) 8.0/2.0/4.0
33 Jack McClinton (G, 6-1, 185, Jr.) 15.0/4.0/7.0
32 Brian Asbury (F, 6-7, 223, Jr.) 10.0/6.0/2.0
00 Jimmy Graham (F, 6-8, 251, Jr.) 4.0/11.0/0.0
50 Anthony King (C, 6-9, 246, R-Sr.) 9.0/10.0/3.0
Probable Marist Starters
No. Name (Pos/Ht/Wt/Cl) Pts/Reb/Ast
22 Ben Farmer (F, 6-5, 193, Sr.) 9.0/5.0/2.0
32 Ryan Stilphen (F, 6-8, 222, R-Sr.) 11.0/5.0/3.0
42 Spongy Benjamin (F/C, 6-8, 228, Sr.) 21.0/17.0/1.0
11 Dejuan Goodwin (G, 6-2, 171, R-Fr.) 13.0/4.0/0.0
24 David Devezin (G, 6-0, 180, R-So.) 16.0/3.0/6.0
The eight-team field includes programs from eight major conferences — the ACC (Miami), BIG EAST (Providence), Atlantic 10 (Temple), Colonial (Virginia Commonwealth), Southern (College of Charleston), Conference USA (Houston), SEC (Arkansas) and MAAC (Marist).
Junior guard Jack McClinton, the team’s leading scorer from one season ago, returns for his second campaign with the Hurricanes and put up 15 points and a career-high seven assists in last Friday’s season-opening rout of Florida Southern. He has a 13-game double-figure scoring streak, dating back to an 18-point performance versus Virginia Tech on Jan. 23, 2007, which is the second-longest double-figure scoring streak in the ACC.
In his season debut versus Florida Southern, senior center Anthony King finished one point shy of a double-double with nine points, 10 rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks. With 173 career blocks, he needs just 20 to surpass James Jones (1999-03) to move into third place. In addition, King is the ACC’s active leading rebounder (551) and shot blocker (167) and enters this week ranked first in the ACC in offensive boards (6.0 pg).
The Series
Thursday’s game marks the third meeting between Marist and Miami, and the first between the schools since the 1987-88 season when the teams played twice in 18 days. Miami won the first game in overtime, 79-76, on Feb. 1, and then dropped the second meeting to Marist, 73-62, on Feb. 18.
A Look at Marist
Marist comes off a record-setting season that saw the Red Foxes win a program-best 25 games, earn its first outright MAAC regular-season title and win its first postseason game with a 67-64 victory at Oklahoma State in the NIT. Although Marist does not return its top three scorers from 2006-07 — and over half of the team did not compete for the Red Foxes last season, Marist was strong in Sunday’s 89-78 season-opening victory over Delaware, led by senior center Spongy Benjamin with career highs of 21 points and 17 rebounds en route to MAAC Player of the Week honors.
