@CanesHoops To Play Boston College Saturday

Feb. 22, 2014  |  12 p.m. 
BankUnited Center | Coral Gables, Fla.

TV: RSN (Affiliates)
Watch the game on these affiliates in Florida: Gainesville – TV 20, Jacksonville – FOX 30, Miami-Fort Lauderdale – MY 33, Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne – My 65, Panama City – News 13, Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota) – CW 44, West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce – The CW West Palm.

Radio: 560 WQAM | 90.5 WVUM | Sirius 132 | XM 196
Webcast:  WQAM.com | wvum.org | ESPN3

Miami: 13-13 (4-9 ACC)
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The Game
Miami faces Boston College on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Noon in the BankUnited Center before hitting the road for three-straight games.

The Series
Miami is 18-24 in the all-time series against Boston College, which dates back to the 1962-63 season. The Canes are 9-11 against the Eagles at home, 1-2 at neutral sites and 8-11 on the road. Miami has won seven-straight matchups against Boston College, including five-straight under Coach L.

The Broadcasts
Catch the game on ACC Network with Mike Hogewood and Debbie Antonelli making the call. Watch the game on these affiliates in Florida: Gainesville – TV 20, Jacksonville – FOX 30, Miami-Fort Lauderdale – MY 33, Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne – My 65, Panama City – News 13, Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota) – CW 44, West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce – The CW West Palm. All affiliates listed here: http://theacc.co/MBB022214ACCNb
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 532-367 overall record in his 30th season as a head coach. He is 62-33 in his third season at the University of Miami.

The Polls (as of Feb. 20)
KenPom.com: Miami-84, Boston College-131 NCAA RPI: Miami-116, Boston College-194. SOS: Miami – 67

The Weather
Projected temperatures on game day: Coral Gables – 83/68. Chestnut Hill, Mass. – 50/33.

Up Next
Miami plays three-straight road games at No. 14/13 Virginia (Feb. 26), NC State (March 1) and Clemson (March 4).

Miami vs. Boston College (18-24)
Since the rebirth of Miami basketball in 1985: 17-24
In BIG EAST games (1991-2004): 7-15
In ACC games, regular season & tournament (2004-pres.): 10-8
Home: 5-3 Away: 4-4 Neutral: 1-1
Since the arrival of Jim Larrañaga (2011-pres.): 5-0
Home: 2-0 Away: 2-0 Neutral: 1-0

Brown Notches Back-to-Back Double-Doubles
With 21 points and 11 rebounds against Notre Dame and 12 points and 10 rebounds at Virginia Tech, Rion Brown notched his second- and third-career double-doubles in ACC play. Brown put up 19 points and grabbed 10 boards in Miami’s win over North Carolina on Jan. 8.
This season, Brown leads the team with four double-doubles, followed by a pair from Donnavan Kirk (vs. St. Francis and Georgia Southern) and one by Garrius Adams (Norfolk State).

Canes from Downtown
Against Notre Dame, the Hurricanes knocked down their first four shots from long distance, and their first seven of eight attempts from three. Miami ended 9-17 from distance after hitting only 7-34 at Virginia Tech the previous game.

Miami Connects at the Line
Miami connected on an ACC season-best 88.9 percent from the free throw line against Notre Dame, hitting 16-of-18 attempts. In its last seven games, Miami has attempted 17-or-more from the line, and in five-straight games (MD, NSU, Pitt, NCST & FSU) the Canes attempted 23-or-more from the line.

Senior Starting Five
Coach Larrañaga started the oldest, most experienced and strongest lineup the last three games: The seniors. Garrius Adams manned the PG position, flanked by wings Rion Brown and Erik Swoope. Donnavan Kirk and Raphael Akpejiori started in the paint for Miami.

Former Man-to-Man Team Gets In the Zone
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. Throughout the season the Canes have played a mix of 1-2-2, 2-3, 1-3-1, box-and-one, triangle-and-two, and man-to-man.

Holding Opponents to Less than 70 Points
While playing primarily zone, Miami has held 17 of its last 19 opponents to less than 70 points, and only four teams overall this season have scored more than 70 points on the Canes: 80-Georgia Southern, 71-George Washington, 74-Maryland, 73-Florida State.

Offensive Ups and Downs
Miami has scored 70+ points three times in ACC play this season, all of which are in the last six outings. After scoring 77 points at Florida State, Miami recorded only 45 points at Virginia Tech, but rebounded with 71 against Notre Dame.
Miami has scored 40-49 points three times in ACC play, 50-59 five times, 60-69 twice and 70+ in three games.

Stats Breakdowns
In Miami’s 13 wins:
Six players average 7.3 ppg or better.
Miami scores 68.0 ppg, shooting 46.9% FG.
The Canes average 35.0 rpg, 12.8 apg and 5.5 spg.
Rion Brown shoots 44.5% FG and grabs 7.2 rpg.
Donnavan Kirk averages 10.8 ppg and Manu Lecomte 9.2 ppg.
In Miami’s 13 losses:
Two players average 7.3 ppg or more.
Miami scores 54.8 ppg, shooting 35.7% FG.
The Canes average 35.2 rpg, 8.7 apg and 4.5 spg.
Rion Brown shoots 38.6% FG and grabs 5.5 rpg.
Donnavan Kirk averages 6.4 ppg and Manu Lecomte 6.4 ppg.
In ACC home games:
Miami shoots 37.0% FG and 34.4% 3FG.
UM makes 10.4 FT per game.
The Canes hold opponents to 39.5% 3FG.
In ACC road games:
Miami shoots 41.7% FG and 31.7% 3FG.
UM makes 13.7 FT per game.
The Canes hold opponents to 31.3% 3FG.

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, averaged 6.3 ppg in 20.3 mpg in ACC.
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.

Record Watching Rion Brown
Rion Brown is currently No. 10 on Miami’s all-time list of 3-point shots made in a career. His 163 trail No. 9 Johnny Hemsley (164) and No. 8 Kevin Presto (170). Jack McClinton holds the record with 286 made from distance.
Brown is also closing in on 1,000 career points, as he currently has notched 993. Only 34 previous Canes have scored at least 1,000 points for UM, including Durand Scott and Reggie Johnson from last year’s team, and Malcolm Grant from Coach L’s first season at the U.
Brown has played 129 career games, which is tied for third-most in the in UM history. Durand Scott played in 132, Brian Asbury in 130 and Julian Gamble in 129 games.

Brown Among Most Improved in the acc
Rion Brown has improved his scoring 8.3 points per game from a season ago, tied for the fifth-best improvement in the ACC this season. T.J. Warren (+10.9) leads the ACC, Trevor Cooney (+9.9) is second, followed by Marcus Paige (+9.0), Jerami Grant (+8.5) and Ian Miller (+8.3).

2013-14 Signing Class
A consensus Top 60 player, Ja’Quan Newton of Neumann-Goretti High in Philadelphia, is a 6-2, 180-pound guard listed as the No. 55 player in ESPN’s Top 100 list. James Palmer, a senior at St. John’s College High, is a 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard from Washington, D.C., who helped his squad to a 20-win season by averaging 12 points, five rebounds and two assists as a junior. Omar Sherman, out of Duncanville, Texas, is a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward who is a four-star prospect, according to ESPN and Scout.com. Ivan Cruz Uceda is a 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward originally from Madrid, Spain, ranked No. 55 overall by ESPN. Cruz Uceda will be available to play a pair of seasons for Miami following his two years at Harcum College in Pennsylvania.
The four newcomers will join an already talented 2014-15 class, which includes redshirt-freshman Deandre Burnett, who is out this season with an injury, and transfers Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez, who are currently sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules.

Seasons of Change
Miami will face back-to-back seasons with roster turnover after losing six players from the 2012-13 ACC Championship season, then six more seniors (5 scholarship) after this 2013-14 campaign.

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.

Miami in National Stats
As of Feb. 17, Miami is ranked No. 11 in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 59.6 points per game. The Canes are also ranked No. 33 in field goal percentage defense, at just 39.9 percent. UM is No. 13 in personal fouls per game, No. 15 in fewest fouls, No. 26 in fewest turnovers, No. 28 in turnovers per game.

Sharing the Lead
Nine Canes have shared team-highs in five statistical categories this season. Six guys have led the team in scoring and five have led or shared top rebounding honors. Five Canes led in assists, nine in steals and six in blocks. For a complete chart, see page 4 of the notes.