Game Day: Wake Forest at #15/14 Miami

The Game
No. 15/14 Miami returns to the BankUnited Center for back-to-back home games, starting with Wake Forest Saturday at 12 p.m., then No. 20/12 Duke on Monday at 7 p.m.

The Broadcasts
Catch the game on the ACC Network with Tim Brant and Mike Gminski on the call. Affiliates in Florida include: Fort Myers-Naples – CW, Gainesville – ABC, Jacksonville – IND, Miami-Fort Lauderdale – My Network TV, Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne – My Network TV, Panama City – This TV, Tallahassee-Thomasville – CW, Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota) – CW, West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce – My Network TV. A complete list of where to watch: http://theacc.co/MBB16ACCN0123b.
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 575-386 overall record in his 32nd season as a head coach. He is 105-52 in his fifth season at the University of Miami, with a 44-31 mark in ACC play.

The Polls (as of Jan. 21)
AP: Miami -15, Wake Forest – NR
USA TODAY: Miami – 14, Wake Forest – NR
KenPom.com: Miami – 12, Wake Forest – 116
NCAA RPI: Miami -17, Wake Forest – 76

The Weather
Game day temperatures: Coral Gables – 68/46; Winston-Salem, N.C. – 33/24.

The Series
Miami is 7-10 in the all-time series against Wake Forest, which dates back to the 1939-40 season. The Canes are 5-2 at home against the Demon Deacons, 1-8 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites. UM is 2-2 against WF under Coach Larrañaga. Miami lost the last matchup with Wake Forest, falling to the Demon Deacons, 72-70, on Feb. 11, 2015 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.

McClellan One of Top Shooting Guards in the Nation, Top in ACC
Senior guard Sheldon McClellan has posted the eighth-best shooting percentage (53.3%) in the country among guards, and has the top shooting percentage among guards in the ACC, according to stats on NCAA.org on Jan. 21. McClellan’s 2-point shooting percentage is 60.8 percent this season.
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.

Jekiri on the Boards
In 121 games at Miami, senior Tonye Jekiri has grabbed 769 rebounds, 10th-most in Miami history. He has improved his rebounds per game from 1.6 as a rookie to 9.6 as a senior. He also has grabbed double-digit rebounds in 32 games over the past two seasons (54 games played), after just three times in his first 67 outings.

McClellan in the Second Half
Sheldon McClellan averages 6.8 points per game on 47.1 percent shooting from the field and 27.3 percent from long range in the first half of games, then improves to 9.3 points in the second stanza, hitting 60.3 percent from the field and 56.7 percent from distance.
After just 6.2 ppg on 40.7 percent shooting in the first half of ACC games, McClellan averages 11.6 ppg in the second, hitting 58.6 percent of his shots.

Canes Have Stingy 3-Point Defense
In nine of the last 10 games, Miami has held each of its opponents to less than 32.0 percent shooting per game from long range – holding them to a combined 31.0 percent mark in those nine games – with Clemson’s 43.8 percent the exception. In the first seven games, Miami averaged 41.4 percent 3-point defense. Opponents shot better than 32 percent from three in six of the first seven games. The Canes held in-state opponents Florida and Florida State to 8.3 percent and 10.5 percent from long range, respectively.

Dewan Huell Named 2016 McDonald’s All-American
Miami signee Dewan Huell has been named a 2016 McDonald’s All-American, as announced on ESPNU Jan. 17. Huell will become the fourth McDonald’s All-American to play at Miami, joining Darius Rice (2000 McDonald’s All-American), Steve Edwards (1992) and Tito Horford (1985). Since the inception of the McDonald’s All American Game in 1977, only 38 players have hailed from the state of Florida, 11 of which were from ‘The State of Miami’ – Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties. Just six of those players have been from Dade County, the most recent before Huell being Corey Louis in 1994.

Miami Winning By Double Digits
In 13 of Miami’s 14 victories, the Canes have outscored their opponents by double digits. Nebraska is the only exception, as Miami won by only five points in overtime against the ‘Huskers. UM is outscoring all opponents by 14.5 points per outing, and averaging 79.4 points per contest.

Miami and ACC Teams in KenPom Rankings
As of Jan. 21, Miami is one of four ACC teams that rank in the KenPom top 12. Seven ACC teams are in the KenPom top 30. Six ACC teams are in the top 20 of KenPom.com’s offensive efficiency ratings, as of Jan. 21. In adjusted efficiency: 1 Notre Dame, 2 North Carolina, 4 Duke, 7 Virginia, 18 Pittsburgh and 20 Miami.
Off. Efficiency – #20 – 114.8 Def. Efficiency – #20 – 93.6 Effective FG% – #18 – 54.9
Sheldon McClellan – True shooting % – #16 – 67.0 Offensive Rating – #19 – 130.5

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.