Game Day: Miami vs. Wofford - Dec. 3

WoffordatMiami

Setting the Scene
Series
All-time: Miami leads, 2-0
Since rebirth in 1985-86: 2-0
Home: 2-0
Away: 0-0
Neutral: 0-0
Last matchup: Dec. 10, 2005. Miami won, 71-40.
Under Coach Larrañaga: 0-0
Coach L all-time vs. Wofford: 0-1

Polls
Miami – AP: NR / USA Today: RV / KenPom: 29
Wofford – AP: RV / USA Today: NR / KenPom: 246

Weather
Coral Gables: High 79/Low 73
Spartanburg, S.C.: High 57/Low 41

Hometown Cane to Play at AAA
Freshman Dewan Huell, a local product from Norland High in Miami, will play in front of his hometown crowd, in his favorite NBA team’s arena, this Saturday against Wofford.
One year ago, Huell and his Norland High School team played in the inaugural HoopHall Miami Invitational held at AAA. In that game, Huell had 25 points and 12 rebounds in a 57-52 win against reigning Florida Class 8A state champion Wellington.

Miami at AmericanAirlines Arena
The Hurricanes are 2-2 at AAA in Miami, all of which were Orange Bowl Classic games.
12/15/01 vs. No. 21/24 Indiana – W, 58-53
12/21/02 vs. No. 13 Florida – L, 94-93 (2OT)
12/20/03 vs. Temple – W, 72-66
11/27/04 vs. Xavier – L, 83-70

The Matchup Between Miami and Wofford
Miami is 2-0 all-time against Wofford with wins in 2004 and 2005 in Coral Gables.
This will be the first time since 2004 that the Hurricanes will play at AmericanAirlines Arena. In the four games they have played there, the Canes are 2-2.
The last time Miami took on Wofford, Dec. 10, 2005, Jimmy Graham (now an NFL tight end) started at power forward for the Canes in a 71-40 victory. In that game, Miami held Wofford to just 15 points in the second half.
Wofford will be Miami’s second opponent this season from the Southern Conference. UM beat Western Carolina to open the season.
In their two all-time meetings with Wofford, the Canes have held the Terriers to an average of 52 points.

From the Archives: Wofford at Miami, Dec. 10, 2005
Guillermo Diaz scored 17 points and Anthony King had a double-double to lead Miami to a 71-40 drubbing of Wofford. The Hurricanes (6-3) opened the half with a 27-8 run to take a 60-33 lead with 8:01 remaining in the game. Seven different players scored for Miami during the run, which put the game well out of reach for Wofford (3-6). Miami led 33-25 at halftime, but outscored Wofford, 38-15, in the second half to coast to its second consecutive win. Shane Nichols scored 11 points for Wofford, which shot just 30 percent from the field and tied a season low in points. Howard Wilkerson scored just seven points for the Terriers, who have now lost four of their past five games. Diaz scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half, including eight of the Hurricanes’ 16 points during a 16-7 run over the final 8:00. Robert Hite added 16 points and six rebounds for Miami, and King recorded his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Hurricanes shot 45 percent from the field, including 52 percent in the second half. The Hurricanes also outrebounded the Terriers 48-26.

Milestones for the Canes
600 Victories – Coach Larrañaga is just seven wins shy of 600 career victories. With 600 wins, he will be one of five ACC coaches with 600 victories, and the other four men are in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
1,000 Games – Coach Larrañaga opened the 2016-17 season just 21 shy of 1,000 career games coached. Miami’s 21st game of the season is vs. Florida State on Feb. 1. He has coached 53 games at American International, 314 at Bowling Green, 437 at Geoge Mason and now 181 at Miami.
1,000 Program Wins – The University of Miami men’s basketball program has won 995 of its 1,724 games.
100 Blocks – Redshirt senior Kamari Murphy has recorded 98 career blocks, with 61 at Oklahoma State and 37 at Miami.
1,000 Points – Senior Davon Reed has scored 938 points in 104 career games at The U.
100 Games – Seniors Kamari Murphy and Davon Reed each played in their 100th career game at North Florida on Nov. 16, 2016. Murphy, a redshirt senior, played in 66 games at Oklahoma State before coming to Miami as a junior. All of Reed’s games played are at UM.

Larrañaga Coaching One of His Youngest Teams
The Canes return just three upperclassmen with 64 starts (all at Miami), and have four newcomers on this season’s squad, all of which are freshmen. The only other season with fewer D-I starts was in 2014-15, when the Canes returned just 16 starts at UM, but Angel Rodriguez, Sheldon McClellan and Joe Thomas combined for 58 starts at previous schools.

What’s Trending, Individually
Freshman guard Bruce Brown has grabbed at least four rebounds in each of the first seven games, and has six-or-more in six outings. He has at least two assists in five contests, and has a steal in five of the last six games.
Freshman forward Dewan Huell has scored double-digit points in five of seven games. He has attempted at least one free throw in every game, and is hitting them at an 86.7 percent (13-15) clip.
Sophomore guard Anthony Lawrence Jr., has swiped at least one steal each game, and had three-or-more in a trio of outings.
Redshirt senior forward Kamari Murphy has pulled down seven-plus rebounds in every game but one, and grabbed double-digit boards in two outings.
Junior point guard Ja’Quan Newton has scored 11-plus points in every game. He has three steals in a trio of games and has dished three-or-more assists in four outings.
Senior guard Davon Reed has scored in double digits five times and grabbed five-plus rebounds in four outings. He has hit at least one shot from long range in every game, with multiple threes in four contests.
Freshman guard DJ Vasiljevic began his Miami career hitting a trio of 3-pointers in three straight games.

What’s Trending, as a Team
Miami opened the season hitting better than 45.0 percent from the field in four straight games, and has done so in five of seven outings.
After starting the season with a pair of 90-plus point outings, the Canes have averaged 65.2 ppg in their last five games.
The Canes have at least seven steals in all but one outing.
Miami has tallied double-digit turnovers in every game.
UM has swatted eight shots in a pair of contests.

The ACC / Big Ten Challenge
Miami is now 5-5 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, with a 4-1 record at home and a 1-4 mark on the road. The ACC owns a 11-5-2 edge in the 18 Challenges after winnning the 2016 event.