ACC Play Resumes Wednesday vs. No. 25/22 Pitt
Feb. 5, 2014 | 7 p.m.
BankUnited Center | Coral Gables, Fla.
TV: RSN (Affiliates)
Affiliates for the game: FOX Sports Carolinas, FOX Sports South, SUN Sports, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus, New England Sports Network, YES Network, FOX Sports Arizona Plus, FOX Sports Indiana Plus, FOX Sports North Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports West, ESPN3 (Subject to Blackout), FOX Sports Detroit Plus, ROOT Sports Pittsburgh, ROOT Sports Rocky Mtn., ROOT Sports Northwest, SportsTime Ohio.
Radio: 560 WQAM | 90.5 WVUM | Sirius 92 | XM 191
Webcast: WQAM.com | wvum.org | ESPN3
Miami: 11-10 (2-6 ACC)
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The Game
Miami hosts its third nationally-ranked opponent of the season when No. 25/22 Pittsburgh comes to Coral Gables on Wednesday night.
The Series
Miami is 16-17 in the all-time series against Pittsburgh, which dates back to the 1947-48 season. The Canes are 10-6 against the Panthers at home, 1-1 at neutral sites and 5-10 on the road. Pittsburgh as won two straight matchups against Miami, defeating the Canes, 76-71, on March 8, 2002 at a neutral site and downing Miami 84-80 in double overtime on Jan. 10, 2004 in Coral Gables.
Miami vs. Pittsburgh (16-17)
Since the rebirth of Miami basketball in 1985: 9-13
Since joining the ACC in 2004-05: 0-0
Since the arrival of Jim Larrañaga in 2011-12: 0-0
The Broadcasts
Catch the game on FOX Sports South with Wes Durham and Cory Alexander making the call. Affiliates for the game: FOX Sports Carolinas, FOX Sports South, SUN Sports, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus, New England Sports Network, YES Network, FOX Sports Arizona Plus, FOX Sports Indiana Plus, FOX Sports North Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports West, ESPN3 (Subject to Blackout), FOX Sports Detroit Plus, ROOT Sports Pittsburgh, ROOT Sports Rocky Mtn., ROOT Sports Northwest, SportsTime Ohio.
Also check out the game on 560 WQAM Radio with Joe Zagacki and Josh Darrow, and on 90.5 WVUM, Miami’s student radio station.
The Coach
Head coach Jim Larrañaga has a 530-364 overall record in his 30th season as a head coach. He is 60-30 in his third season at the University of Miami.
The Polls (as of Feb. 3)
KenPom.com: Miami – 78, Pittsburgh – 12.
NCAA RPI: Miami – 97, Pittsburgh – 26.
SOS: Miami – 52
The Weather
Projected temperatures on game day: Coral Gables – 81/67. Pittsburgh – 36/15.
Up Next
Miami wraps up a three-game homestand on Feb. 8 when the Canes host NC State at 2 p.m.
Stifling D by the Hurricanes
After playing man-to-man defense 95 percent of the time in his first 40 years of coaching, Jim Larrañaga’s team is now playing zone 95 percent of the game.
With the zone, Miami has held 13 of its last 14 opponents to less than 70 points, and only three teams overall this season have scored more than 70 points on the Canes: 80-Georgia Southern, 71-George Washington, 74-Maryland. Prior to the game vs. Florida State, UM held five-straight opponents to fewer than 60 points.
In five of the last six conference games, Miami has held Syracuse (twice), North Carolina, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Duke considerably below their offensive season scoring averages. Those six teams entered the game with the Canes averaging a combined 75.8 points per game, but have been held to an average of 57 ppg.
Wins vs. Losses for the Canes
In Miami’s 11 wins:
Five players average 7.3 ppg or better.
Miami scores 66.9 ppg, shooting 46.7% FG.
The Canes average 35.6 rpg, 12.8 apg and 5.9 spg.
Rion Brown shoots 45.9% FG and grabs 7.1 rpg.
Donnavan Kirk averages 11.0 ppg and Manu Lecomte 9.5 ppg.
In Miami’s 10 losses:
Three players average 7.3 ppg or more.
Miami scores 55.8 ppg, shooting 37.1% FG.
The Canes average 33.8 rpg, 9.0 apg and 4.5 spg.
Rion Brown shoots 39.5% FG and grabs 5.3 rpg.
Donnavan Kirk averages 8.1 ppg and Manu Lecomte 6.2 ppg.
Miami’s Top Seven, A Year Ago
A season ago, only two of Miami’s top seven guys were playing for the Canes, while another was out with injury. Four of Miami’s current top seven players were scattered across the world.
Manu Lecomte – An amateur in a professional league in Belgium.
Garrius Adams – Sitting out while rehabbing a knee injury.
Rion Brown – Miami’s seventh man, who averaged 6.3 ppg in 20.3 mpg in ACC play.
Donnavan Kirk – At DePaul, in the BIG EAST Conference.
Tonye Jekiri – At UM, averaging 1.7 ppg in 6.9 ACC minutes.
Davon Reed – Princeton Day School (N.J.)
James Kelly – Owens Community College.
Coach L vs. The ACC
Coach Larrañaga has .500 or above winning percentage against all 11 returning ACC schools, and is 0-2 against the nationally ranked newcomer, Syracuse. Notably, Coach L is 6-4 combined against Duke & North Carolina.
Coaching Coordinators for Miami
Miami’s assistant coaching staff is set up in a coordinator system, with Eric Konkol as the offensive coordinator, Michael Huger manning the defense and Chris Caputo handling the scout for every opponent.
