Canes Hoops vs. Gators Matchup Dec. 8, ESPN2
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Last basketball season, the Miami Hurricanes traveled to Gainesville and defeated then-No. 8/7 Florida 69-67, led by 22 points from Angel Rodriguez in the final nine minutes.
This season, the highly anticipated matchup will take place December 8 at 7 p.m. at the BankUnited Center and will be televised by ESPN2, the network announced Thursday.
In the last meeting, Rodriguez drained five 3-pointers in the last seven minutes to help Miami to the win. Tonye Jekiri added eight points and eight rebounds for UM, while Sheldon McClellan chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and five assists. With the victory, the Canes snapped Florida’s 33-game home winning streak and 25-game home non-conference winning streak at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The 33-game streak was the third-longest in the country at the time, behind 34 from both Duke and Stephen F. Austin.
The last time the Canes hosted the Gators was Dec. 22, 2005 – a 77-67 Florida win. UF leads the all-time series 45-23, but Miami is 16-15 at home against Florida. UM last defeated UF in Coral Gables on Feb. 19, 1990, by three points, 62-59.
Miami opens the 2015-16 season ranked in a pair of preseason national polls, checking in at No. 21 on CBSSports.com and No. 23 in the USA Today poll. The Canes return eight players, who accounted for 79.3 percent of scoring, 85.2 percent of rebounds, 80.5 percent of assists, 81.3 percent of steals and 93.7 percent of blocks, from a season ago.
UM should be led by a trio of 2015 All-ACC Team honorable mention players in seniors Sheldon McClellan (14.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Angel Rodriguez (11.9 ppg, 3.9 apg) and Tonye Jekiri (8.6 ppg, 9.9 rpg). Also returning are senior Ivan Cruz Uceda (5.2 ppg), junior Davon Reed (8.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg), and sophomores Omar Sherman (4.8 ppg), Ja’Quan Newton (4.0 ppg) and James Palmer (3.7 ppg). The Canes welcome junior transfer Kamari Murphy (Oklahoma State/Brooklyn, N.Y.) and freshmen Anthony Lawrence, Jr. (Lakewood/St. Petersburg, Fla.), and Ebuka Izundu (Victory Christian/Charlotte, N.C.).
Miami finished the 2014-15 season with a 25-13 overall record and a 10-8 mark in the ACC. UM played the most games (38) and recorded the second-most victories (25) in Hurricane basketball history, ending the season in the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament in Madison Square Garden. The Hurricanes are 91-49 in four seasons under head coach Jim Larrañaga.
2015-16 season tickets are available here.
