Game Day: Miami vs. ND in Quarterfinals

The Game

Sixth-seeded Miami continues the 2015 New York Life ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 12 at 9 p.m. against No. 11/9 Notre Dame, the third seed in the tournament.  

The Series

Miami is 8-9 in the all-time series against Notre Dame, which dates back to the 1985-86 season. The Canes are 4-4 at home against the Fighting Irish, 3-5 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites. Miami lost the last matchup with Notre Dame, falling 70-75 on Jan. 17, 2015 against the then-ranked No. 12 Fighting Irish.

The Broadcasts

Catch the game on ESPN with Dan Shulman, Shane Battier and Allison Williams making the call, as well as the ACC Network with Tim Brando and Dan Bonner.

Also tune in to the game on 560 WQAM Radio with Joe Zagacki, the Voice of the Hurricanes, and 90.5 WVUM, Miami’s student station.

The Coach

Head coach Jim Larrañaga has a 557-381 overall record in his 31st season as a head coach. He is 87-47 in his fourth season at the University of Miami, with a 42-29 mark in ACC play.

The Polls (As of March 12)

AP: Miami – NR; Notre Dame – 11
USA TODAY: Miami – NR; Notre Dame – 9
KenPom.com: Miami – 54; Notre Dame – 16
NCAA RPI: Miami – 62; Notre Dame – 25

The Weather

Projected temperatures on game day: Coral Gables – 84/72; Notre Dame – 35/56; Greensboro, N.C. – 56/38.

The Notes

The First time out Vs. Notre Dame
At Notre Dame on Jan. 17, 2015, Miami held a 30-29 lead at halftime, extended the margin to 12 with 15:06 left in the game, then lost by a final tally of 75-70. Miami led for 28:49 of the game. The Canes’ bench scored 32 points, led by a pair of freshmen – Ja’Quan Newton with 16 and James Palmer with 11. Tonye Jekiri posted 13 rebounds and eight points, and Miami was paced by 17 points from Sheldon McClellan. The complete box score from the game is on page 6 of the notes.

Miami in the ACC Tournament

Won-Loss Record: 21 games, 12-9
Titles: 1, 2013
First Round Appearances: 9, 7-2
Second Round Appearances: 2, 1-1
Quarterfinal Appearances: 7, 2-5
Semifinal Appearances: 2, 1-1
Final Appearances: 1, 1-0

The Canes are the No. 6 seed for the third time in UM history along with the first season in the ACC, 2004-05 in Washington, D.C., and 2011-12 in Atlanta.
This is the first meeting between Miami and Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament.
The Canes are playing in the ACC Tournament for the 11th time.
Miami is 12-9 in ACC Tournament play.
Miami is 9-4 in tournament games played in Greensboro, N.C.
Under head coach Jim Larrañaga, Miami is 6-2 in the ACC Tournament.
UM has advanced past the first round in nine of 11 seasons, including five-straight.
Miami will play in the quarterfinals for the eighth time. The last time was in 2013.
UM has won five of its last six games in the ACC tournament after going 3-0 in 2013 and 1-1 in 2014.
Miami won the ACC Tournament in 2013, defeating North Carolina, 87-77, in the championship game, for the Cane’s first ACC title. UM also finished the 2013 regular season atop the standings.
Miami’s three wins in 2013 are the most by the Canes in the ACC Tournament.
Miami’s highest seed was No. 1, in 2013.
Since Miami joined the ACC in 2004-05, four teams have won both the regular season and tournament, once by Miami (2013) and Virginia (2014), twice by Duke (2006, 2009) and North Carolina (2007, 2008).
Since 2012, three teams not from the state of North Carolina have won the ACC Championship: Florida State, Miami and Virginia.

Postseason Awards for Four Hurricanes
Junior forward Tonye Jekiri was named to the 2015 Coaches and ACSMA All-Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Team. Jekiri also joined Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez as honorable mentions on the 2015 ACSMA All-ACC Team.
Sophomore guard Davon Reed was named to the All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball Team.

Darius Rice Named ACC Legend
Darius Rice has been named Miami’s 2015 ACC Basketball Legend. A three-time All-BIG EAST Conference selection, the 6-foot-10 Rice was named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team and earned first team All-District 6 honors three times while at Miami. Rice led the Canes to the 2002 NCAA Tournament and the 2001 NIT. He ended his collegiate career with 1,865 points (16.1 ppg) and 666 rebounds (5.7 rpg).

Miami’s Road Wins Rank Top 11 Nationally
Miami is one of 38 teams in the country, and one of 11 teams from a Top 8 conference, to win 10+ games away from its home arena this regular season. Gonzaga led the way with 14 road & neutral site victories.
The Canes have posted 10+ wins away from home in two of Coach L’s four seasons at Miami. In 2012-13, Miami won 15 on the road, including five neutral-site games. This year, Miami was 10-5 away from the BankUnited Center, with a 3-1 neutral-site record, in the regular season.

Mixing up the Starting Lineup
Miami has used 10 starting lineups this season, and every scholarship player has started at least one game. For a complete listing, check page six of the notes.

Larrañaga in ACC Play
Since his arrival in 2011, Jim Larrañaga has recorded the top three win totals in ACC play in Miami history with 15-3 in 2013, 10-8 in 2015, and 9-7 in 2012. In 2014, Miami’s record was 7-11, tied for the fifth-best mark. Miami’s fourth-most wins were eight in 2007-08.

Miami’s Team, One Year Ago
A season ago, only three of Miami’s guys were available to play for the Hurricanes, three were sitting out as redshirts, two were playing at other colleges and three were still seniors in high school.
Tonye Jekiri, Manu Lecomte, Davon Reed – Playing for Miami.
Deandre Burnett, Sheldon McClellan, Angel Rodriguez – Redshirts, practicing with the Canes.
Joe Thomas – at Niagara University; Ivan Cruz Uceda – at Harcum College (Ju-Co).
Ja’Quan Newton, James Palmer, Omar Sherman – Seniors in high school.

Miami vs. Ranked Opponents This Season
Miami is 3-5 against ranked teams this season, including 1-1 against Top 5 teams and 2-2 against Top 10 teams. In the five losses, one was a double-overtime defeat against Virginia, and the Canes came up 6.0 ppg short in the other four outings. The Canes are 1-3 at home and 2-2 on the road. vs. Top 25 opponents. See a complete list vs. ranked opponents since the arrival of Coach L on page 6.

Eyeing Milestones – Rodriguez Tops 1,000 points – Jekiri to play 100 games
Point guard Angel Rodriguez is closing in on 1,000 career points. The native of Cupey, P.R., scored 640 points in two seasons at Kansas State and has recorded 358 points through 30 games at Miami, for a total of 1003.
Rodriguez has 124 assists this season, just nine shy of No. 10 on the season assists list at Miami. No. 10 Anthony Harris (2004-05) had 133, No. 9 Thomas Hocker (‘87-88) has 136.
Rodriguez is already tied for No. 9 on the steals list with 56 this season. He is tied with No. 9 Steven Edwards’ (‘92-93) 56 and trails No. 7 & No. 8 John Salmons’ 57, in both 2000-01 and 2001-02.
Junior Tonye Jekiri has played in 99 career games for the Hurricanes in three seasons. He also has 325 rebounds, which topped Edwin Morris’ (‘55-56) 322 to move into No. 10 on the list, and trail No. 9 Wayne Canaday (‘69-70), who had 327.

Stats Breakdowns
In Miami’s 21 wins:
Five players average 8.5 ppg or better.
Miami scores 73.2 ppg, shooting 46.5% FG.
The Canes average 35.3 rpg, 14.3 apg and 5.8 spg.
Angel Rodriguez averages 14.1 points, 39.5 FG%, 36.7 3FG%
Tonye Jekiri averaged 11.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks
Manu Lecomte averages 10.4 points, 48.6 FG%, 49.4 3FG%
In Miami’s 11 losses:
Two players average 8.5 ppg or better.
Miami scores 59.7 ppg, shooting 38.2% FG.
The Canes average 31.2 rpg, 11.5 apg and 5.4 spg.
Angel Rodriguez averages 8.6 points, 21.6 FG%, 17.5 3FG%
Tonye Jekiri averages 8.5 rebounds, 0.5 blocks
Manu Lecomte averages 3.8 points, 30.4 FG%, 36.4 3FG%

Cardiac Canes – Year Two
Miami played 12 games this season that were decided by five points-or-less.
The Canes had five losses by a total of 22 points in the month of February. Three of those games were decided by a total of five points.
In 2013-14, Miami led the ACC having played 13 games decided by five points-or-less or in OT.

Breaking Down the Stats
Through 32 games, Miami is 21-11 overall, 10-6 at home, and 10-6 away from the BankUnited Center (7-4 on the road and 3-1 at neutral sites). Despite facing four Top 15 teams on the road – at No. 6/7 Florida, at No. 4 Duke, at No. 12 Notre Dame, at No. 12 Louisville – Miami averages 4.1 ppg, 3.7 FG% and 8.6 3FG% better on the road than at home.

Canes Post 20-Win Season
With a victory at Virginia Tech on March 7, Miami posted its third 20-win season in four years since the arrival of Jim Larrañaga. Since 2011-12, Coach L has tallied seasons of 20-13, 29-7, 17-16, and 20-11, for an average of 21.5 wins per season. Since joining the ACC in 2004-05, Miami posted three 20-win seasons before the arrival of Larrañaga, 23-11 in 2008, 20-13 in 2010 and 21-15 in 2011.

McClellan Improves Shooting Percentages
Junior guard Sheldon McClellan has drastically improved his shooting percentages since arriving at Miami for the 2014-15 season, after spending two campaigns at Texas.

Coaching Staff Longevity
Coach L’s and his three assistant coaches have been coaching together for a combined 32 seasons. Chris Caputo has been with Coach L for 13 years, Eric Konkol is at 11 years and Michael Huger in his eighth season as an assistant. Huger also played for Larrañaga from 1989-93 at Bowling Green.