Game Day: #13/16 Miami at La Salle

No. 13/16 MiamiatLa Salle

The Game
No. 13/16 Miami travels to Philadelphia for its second true road game of the season, facing La Salle at The Palestra on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 5 p.m.

The Broadcasts
Catch the game on CBS Sports Network with Tom McCarthy and Pete Gillen making the call.
Also check out the game on 1080 WHIM radio with Joe Zagacki, the Voice of the Hurricanes.

The Coach
Head coach Jim Larrañaga has a 570-384 overall record in his 32nd season as a head coach. He is 100-50 in his fifth season at the University of Miami, with a 41-29 mark in ACC play.

The Polls (as of Dec. 21)
AP: Miami -13, La Salle – NR
USA TODAY: Miami – 16, La Salle – NR
KenPom.com: Miami – 11, La Salle – 236
NCAA RPI: Miami -16, La Salle – 296

The Weather
Game day temperatures: Coral Gables – 82/75; Philadelphia, Pa.- 60/49.

The Series
Miami is 6-9 in the all-time series against La Salle, which dates back to the 1950-51 season. The Canes are 6-3 at home against the Explorers, 0-6 on the road and 2-0 under Coach Larrañaga. Miami won the last matchups with La Salle, defeating the Explorers, 71-58, exactly two years ago, on Dec. 22, 2013 at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables.

The Note
Sophomore guard Ja’Quan Newton returns to his hometown of Philadelphia for the game against La Salle. Upon graduation in 2014, Newton was the leading scorer in both the history of the Catholic School League in Philadelphia and in Neumann-Goretti history, notching 1,972 career points. As a senior, he guided the Saints to 22-4 record and sixth-straight Catholic League Championship, scoring 15 of his 23 points in the second half to seal the victory.

Larrañaga Wins 100th at Miami
The Canes’ victory over Charleston marked win No. 100 for Head Coach Jim Larrañaga as a University of Miami Hurricane. Needing only 150 games, Coach Larrañaga is the fastest to accomplish the feat in program history. Bruce Hale was the Miami coach who won 100 games the quickest, earning 100 victories in just 159 games. Hart Morris took 163 games, Frank Haith 174 and Leonard Hamilton took 230 games.

Newton Posts Career Numbers Prior to Homecoming Game
Ja’Quan Newton tallied a career-high 20 points against Charleston, becoming the 10th Miami reserve to score 20 points in a game in the past 20 years. Newton has now scored double-digit points in eight games after only scoring 10+ in four games as a rookie. His previous career-best was 17 vs. No. 22/20 Butler in Nov. 22. Newton’s seven rebounds against Charleston were also a career high, topping his previous best of five, which he grabbed twice, most recently against Stanford in the NIT. Newton also tallied a career-best four steals, besting his previous high of two against No. 22/20 Butler.

Taking Care of Business at the Line
Miami is outscoring its opponents by 16.8 points per game this season, and averaging 20.3 made free throws per game. Through 10 games, the Canes are connecting on 77.2 percent at the line, and have hit at least 19 free throws in each game but one, with just seven made FTs against Northeastern, in the Canes’ only loss.

Freshman Lawrence is Perfect from the Field
True freshman Anthony Lawrence Jr. was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field against Charleston, including 3-of-3 from long distance. The rookie is knocking down 57.9 percent (22-38) of his shots, and 50.0 percent (8-16) of his threes. Lawrence is the son of Anthony Lawrence, Sr., who played for Miami from 1991-93.

Miami Holds the Lead
In Miami’s nine wins, the Canes have only trailed in the second half against Nebraska, which held a lead with 3:39 left in overtime. Otherwise, UTRGV had a lead with 12:52 left in the first half, the latest lead for an opponent this season, besides Nebraska and Northeastern. Florida led with 16:45 left in the game, and Louisiana (19:01), Mississippi State (19:43) and Charleston (19:18) only led within the first minute of the game.
In Miami’s eight victories the Canes have lead all but 11 minutes and 33 seconds combined. The Canes trailed 4:59 vs. UTRGV and 3:59 at Nebraska, added to 1:21 vs. Lafayette, 0:39 vs. Charleston, 0:22 vs. Mississippi State and 0:13 vs. Florida.
Miami hasn’t trailed in three games – against Utah, Butler and Charlotte. Miami trailed by only three points in each of its first two games against UTRGV and Louisiana, two points against Mississippi State, three points at Nebraska, one vs. Florida and Charleston., and never trailed against Charlotte or nationally ranked Utah and Butler.

Miami in KenPom Rankings (as of Dec. 20)
Offensive Efficiency – #7 – 116.6 Defensive Efficiency – #44 – 96.1 Effective FG% – #9 – 57.8
Sheldon McClellan – True Shooting percentage – #7 – 71.9 Offensive Rating – #11 – 139.5

Canes Finding Bottom of the Net
In 150 games under Coach Larrañaga at Miami, the Canes have scored 85-or-more points in 18 outings, seven of which are in the 2015-16 season. UM has only scored 90-or-more points eight times in those 150 games, including three times this year. Two of those other five games were 90-point outings against Duke, which was ranked No. 1 (1/23/13) and No. 4 (1/13/15) at the time.
In games under Coach L, Miami is 18-0 when scoring 85-or-more points, 10-0 at home, 3-0 on the road and 5-0 at neutral sites. The Canes’ 105 points against Mississippi State were the most points Miami has scored under Coach L.

Quick Hits
– Miami is 8-0 this season in games decided by 11-or-more points, and Coach L is 58-17 all-time at Miami in games decided by more than 10 points.
– As a team, Miami is hitting 50.4 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three.
– Miami has posted 14.4 assists per game in the first 10 outings.
– Miami’s bench has scored 27.0 points per game, including 50 against Mississippi State, 39 vs. Charleston and 35 vs. Charlotte.
– The Canes have scored 31.6 points per game in the paint, including 50 paint points against Northeastern and 46 against Mississippi State.
– Miami is averaging 15.8 points off of turnovers, compared to 10.4 from opponents.
– Five Hurricanes are averaging at least 9.3 points per game.
– Five Canes pull down at least 3.0 rebounds per game.
– Six players are averaging at least 21.0 minutes per game.
– All10 scholarship players are shooting better than 40 percent from the field and three are better than 45 percent from long distance.
– Every Cane has scored 10+ points in at least one game.
– UM is averaging 8.3 threes made per game and 20.3 made free throws per game.

What’s Trending – Individually
– Ja’Quan Newton has scored double-digit points in eight games after only scoring 10+ in four games as a rookie. He has already scored 119 points as a sophomore after 135 points in 34 games a season ago.
– Anthony Lawrence has tallied at least nine points in five outings.
– Davon Reed has grabbed at least three rebounds in every game but Charleston. He has hit three-or-more free throws in every game but two (vs. Utah and Florida).
– Sheldon McClellan has scored 14+ points in eight games. He has a steal in every game but one (vs. Charlotte), and has shot better than 50 percent from the field in all but three games (Butler, Nebraska and Charleston).
– Angel Rodriguez has knocked down a 3-pointer in every game. He has scored in double-digits in seven games, and notched four-or-more assists in seven outings.
– Kamari Murphy has at least one block in five-straight games.
– Tonye Jekiri has pulled down at least 10 rebounds in seven games, including four games with 12. He has at least one assist in every outing but one (vs. Charlotte).
– Ivan Cruz Uceda has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in every game except at Nebraska and vs. Florida.