Game Day: Florida State at #12/11 Miami

The Game
No. 12/11 Miami faces in-state rival Florida State Saturday at 5 p.m. at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla. Fewer than 300 seats are remaining for purchase: CLICK HERE to order.

The Broadcasts
Catch the game on ESPN2 with Dave O’Brien and Dick Vitale on the call. Also check out the game on 560 WQAM radio with Joe Zagacki, the Voice of the Hurricanes.

The Coach
Head coach Jim Larrañaga has a 573-384 overall record in his 32nd season as a head coach. He is 103-50 in his fifth season at the University of Miami, with a 42-29 mark in ACC play.

The Polls (as of Jan. 5)
AP: Miami -12, Florida State – NR
USA TODAY: Miami – 11, Florida State – NR
KenPom.com: Miami – 12, Florida State – 45
NCAA RPI: Miami -15, Florida State – 79

The Weather
Game day temperatures: Coral Gables – 80/70; Tallahassee, Fla. – 75/56.

The Series
Miami is 33-42 in the all-time series against Florida State, which dates back to the 1950-51 season. The Canes are 26-12 at home against the Seminoles, 7-28 on the road and 0-2 at neutral sites. Miami won the last matchup with Florida State, defeating the Seminoles, 81-77, on Feb. 25, 2015 at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables.

Canes Open ACC Slate With Home Victory
Miami opened ACC play with a victory for the fourth time since joining the league for the 2004-05 season. The Canes are 4-8 in ACC openers, including 3-3 at home and 1-5 on the road. The Canes have started ACC play at home for three-straight seasons after being on the road four-straight from 2009-10 to 2012-13.

McClellan One of Top Shooting Guards in the Nation, Top in ACC
Senior guard Sheldon McClellan has posted the seventh-best shooting percentage (54.2%) in the country among guards, and has the top shooting percentage among guards in the ACC, according to stats on NCAA.org. McClellan is currently on three national player of the year early-season watch lists: Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy for Men’s National Player of the Year and Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.

Miami In Back-To-Back ACC Home Games
Since joining the ACC in 2004-05, Miami has played back-to-back league home games 23 times, with the Canes winning both games six times. In 2007-08, UM defeated 5/4 Duke and Maryland, then also Virginia and Boston College in consecutive home games. In 2010-11, Miami took down both Georgia Tech and Virginia back-to-back. Twice in 2012-13, Miami won two-straight home games, downing 1/1 Duke and Florida State, then Boston College and North Carolina. In 2013-14, Miami beat Notre Dame and Boston College in consecutive home games.

Miami and ACC Teams in KenPom Rankings
Six ACC teams are in the top 16 of KenPom.com’s offensive efficiency ratings, as of Jan. 5. In adjusted efficiency: 1 North Carolina, 2 Duke, 4 Notre Dame, 5 Virginia, 15 Pittsburgh and 16 Miami.
As of Jan. 5, Miami is one of five ACC teams that rank in the KenPom top 12. Eight ACC teams are in the KenPom top 40.

Coach L Ties to the ACC
Coach Jim Larrañaga was an assistant coach at Virginia from 1979-1986, under the leadership of Terry Holland. In those seven seasons, Larrañaga helped the Cavaliers to five NCAA appearances: Final Four twice, Elite Eight once, Sweet 16 once and Round of 64 once, as well as two NIT appearances, including the Championship and Quarterfinal round.

Larrañaga Among the Best in College Basketball
Entering the 2015-16 season, Coach Larrañaga was tied for 12th on the list of Winningest Active Coaches at Major Schools and is tied for 57th on the NCAA’s list of All-Time Winningest Coaches. See page 9 of the notes for a complete listing.

Miami Holds the Lead
In Miami’s 12 victories, the Canes have led for all but 43 minutes and 22 seconds combined. The Canes trailed 19:49 to Syracuse, 12:00 vs. Princeton, 4:59 vs. UTRGV and 3:59 at Nebraska, added to 1:21 vs. Louisiana, 0:39 vs. Charleston, 0:22 vs. Mississippi State and 0:13 vs. Florida. Miami hasn’t trailed in four games – against Utah, Butler, Charlotte and La Salle.
In Miami’s 12 wins, the Canes have only trailed after the first half against Syracuse, Nebraska and Princeton. The Cornhuskers held a lead with 3:39 left in overtime, the Orange led by one with 7:07 left in regulation and the Tigers led with 6:02 left in regulation.

The BUC is Sold Out
In just his fifth season in Coral Gables, Jim Larrañaga continues to set records with the Miami men’s basketball team. Miami has SOLD OUT the ticket allotment for all home games this season at the BankUnited Center. This is the first time in Miami athletics history a team has sold out their season. Due to the season ticket sales, seats will not be available on a single-game basis.
In Coach Larrañaga’s fifth season at The U, fans have bought 5,500 season tickets, more than doubling the total number of season tickets sold in his first season in Coral Gables. When Coach L began his reign in Miami, fans bought 2,251 season tickets for the 2011-12 campaign. After a record-breaking season on the court in 2012-13, season tickets peaked at 3,674 for 2013-14.

Quick Hits
– Miami is 11-0 this season in games decided by 11-or-more points, and Coach L is 61-17 all-time at Miami in games decided by more than 10 points.
– As a team, Miami is hitting 49.9 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from three.
– Miami has posted 13.9 assists per game in the first 12 outings.
– UM is averaging 7.6 threes made per game and 19.8 made free throws per game.
– Miami’s bench has scored 28.2 points per game, including 50 against Mississippi State, 47 at La Salle, 39 vs. Charleston and 35 vs. Charlotte.
– The Canes have scored 33.7 points per game in the paint, including 50 paint points against Northeastern and La Salle, and 46 against Mississippi State.
– Miami is averaging 15.2 points off of turnovers, compared to 10.9 from opponents.
– Five Hurricanes are averaging at least 8.8 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.
– All 10 scholarship players are shooting better than 40 percent from the field and three are better than 42 percent from long distance.
– Every scholarship Cane has scored 10+ points in at least one game.

What’s Trending – Individually
– Ja’Quan Newton has scored double-digit points in 11 games after only scoring 10+ in four games as a rookie. He has already scored 156 points as a sophomore, after tallying 135 points in 34 games a season ago. Newton has at least two assists in 10 games, including seven-straight.
– Anthony Lawrence, Jr. has tallied at least nine points in five outings. He has a rebound in all but one outing.
– Davon Reed has grabbed at least three rebounds in every game but vs. Charleston. He has hit three-or-more free throws in every game but three (vs. Utah, Florida, Syracuse).
– Sheldon McClellan has scored 20+ points in three outings and 14+ points in 10 games. He has a steal in every game but two (vs. Charlotte and Princeton), and has shot better than 50 percent from the field in all but five games (Butler, Nebraska, Charleston, Princeton, Syracuse). He has hit a free throw in every game and 4+ in seven outings.
– James Palmer has an assist in six-straight games and a rebound in six-straight outings.
– Angel Rodriguez has knocked down a 3-pointer in every game but two (La Salle and Syracuse). He has scored in double-digits in nine games, and notched four-or-more assists in nine outings.
– Kamari Murphy has at least one block in eight-straight games. He has grabbed at least five rebounds in the past eight outings.
– Tonye Jekiri has pulled down at least 10 rebounds in eight games, including five games with 12-or-more. He has at least one assist in every outing but four (Charlotte, La Salle, Princeton and Syracuse).
– Ivan Cruz Uceda has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in every game except two, at Nebraska and vs. Florida. He has a rebound in every game but one (Northeastern).