Game Day: Miami vs. Boston College - Jan. 25

Boston CollegeatMiami

Setting the Scene
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017
Time: 9 p.m.
Location: Watsco Center | Coral Gables, Fla.

-/rv Miami Hurricanes (12-6, 2-4 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga 2013 & 2016 ACC Coach of the Year
Record at Miami: 130-63, sixth season ACC Record at Miami: 56-38
Career Record: 600-397, 33rd season Alma Mater: Providence, 1971

Boston College Eagles (9-11, 2-5 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Christian Alma Mater: Rhode Island, 1988
Record at BC: 29-55, third season Career Record: 272-208, 15th season

Broadcasts
TV: RSN – Tom Werme, Jason Capel
Affiliates: FOX Sports South; FOX Sports Carolinas; FOX Sports Florida; FOX Sports Midwest Plus; FOX Sports Indiana Plus; Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic; YES; NESN; ROOT Sports Pittsburgh; SportsTime Ohio; FOX Sports Detroit Plus; FOX Sports North; FOX Sports Wisconsin Plus; FOX Sports Southwest Plus; FOX Sports Arizona; FOX Sports West; ROOT Sports Rocky Mtn.; ROOT Sports Northwest.
Radio: 560 WQAM – Joe Zagacki
Online: ACC Network Extra http://es.pn/2i7lrBf

Series
All-time: 22-24 Since rebirth in 1985-86: 21-24
Home: 11-11
Away: 10-11
Neutral: 1-2
Under Coach Larrañaga: 9-0
Coach L all-time vs. Boston College: 9-0
Current streak: Miami won 11.
Last matchup: Jan. 20, 2016. No. 15/14 Miami W, 67-53
Last Boston College win: Jan. 19, 2010. 79-75.

Polls
Miami – AP: NR / USA Today: RV / NCAA RPI:81 / KenPom: 40
Boston College – AP: NR / USA Today: NR / NCAA RPI: 180 / KenPom: 162

Weather
Coral Gables, Fla.: High 79 / Low 64
Chestnut Hill, Mass.: High 48 / Low 39

Arrive Early, Honor Coach L
Prior to Wednesday night’s game, at approximately 8:40 p.m., Coach Jim Larrañaga will be honored for winning his 600th career game.
Larrañaga won his 600th career game at Pittsburgh on Jan. 14. In 33 seasons as a head coach, Larrañaga’s 600 wins place him at 47th in all-time NCAA victories and 14th among active coaches (as of games through Jan. 12). Of those 14, five are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, including four from the Atlantic Coast Conference. In his career, Coach L has won 27 games at American International, 170 at Bowling Green, 273 at George Mason and 130 at Miami. He is one of 15 coaches all-time with 100 or more wins at three D-I schools, four of whom are actively coaching. He is also 11th among active coaches in total games coached (997) and ninth in most seasons coached (33).

Game Promotion
The first 500 students at Wednesday’s game will receive a “40 Minutes of L” t-shirt.

Canes Return to the Watsco Center for a Trio of ACC Games
After three consecutive games on the road, Miami returns to the Watsco Center for the first time since Jan. 12, and will host a trio of games over the next eight days in Boston College (Jan. 25), No. 9/6 North Carolina (Jan. 28) and No. 6/8 Florida State (Feb. 1).
Among the schools with three straight ACC games on the road this year, Miami’s past stretch – at Pittsburgh (Jan. 14), at Wake Forest (Jan. 18) and at No. 18 Duke (Jan. 21) – takes the title for most mileage to those three consecutive contests.

Home Court Advantage
Miami has won 21 of its last 22 games at the Watsco Center, with an 8-1 mark this season, added to 13 straight victories in the 2015-16 campaign. In six seasons under Coach L, Miami is 71-21 overall at home, 40-7 in non-conference play at home and 32-14 in ACC action at home. In both 2012-13 and 2015-16, the Canes had just one loss overall at the Watsco Center.

Ranked Opponents Ahead for Miami
Eight of Miami’s final 12 games will be played against teams currently listed in national polls. The Canes, who are receiving votes (2) in the USA Today poll as of Jan. 23, host a pair of top 10 teams in No. 9/6 North Carolina and No. 6/8 Florida State in the next week, then host RV Virginia Tech (Feb. 8) and No. 17 Duke (Feb. 25) later this season. UM faces four ranked teams on their respective home courts: No. 13/14 Louisville (Feb. 11), No. 12/13 Virginia (Feb. 20), RV Virginia Tech (Feb. 27) and No. 6/8 Florida State (March 4).

Davon Reed Steps Up in ACC Play
Senior guard Davon Reed has improved his offensive stats tremendously from the non-conference to ACC action. In six ACC outings, he has scored 18+ points five times, after doing so just three times in 12 non-conference outings. He is hitting 3.2 shots from long distance per game in ACC play after just 2.3 per game in non-league games.

Murphy Grabs Career-High 15 Rebounds
Redshirt senior forward Kamari Murphy pulled down 15 rebounds at Duke on Jan. 21, including 10 in the first half. The 15 boards are the most by a Hurricane since Tonye Jekiri grabbed 17 at Boston College last season and the fourth-most by a Cane ever in an ACC game, behind Jekiri (17 twice) and Reggie Johnson (16).
Murphy is third in ACC games in rebounding this season with 9.0 per outing, and is third in the league in offensive boards (3.7) and tied for eighth in defensive rebounds (5.3). He has seven 10-rebound outings this year, tied for fifth-most in the league.

Quick Hits – Team
Miami has made six-or-more shots from three in every ACC game, after doing so in only eight of 12 non-conference outings.
For the season, the Canes have shot better than 45 percent in 11 games, and only twice in ACC play.
UM’s defense has held opponents to shoot less than 30 percent from downtown in nine games and has forced double-digit turnovers in 14 outings.
Miami has outrebounded all but four of its opponents – Stanford (-4), GWU (-1), Syracuse (-4) and Wake Forest (-2).
Eleven of Miami’s 12 victories are by a double-digit margin. The only single-digit margin was +8 against GW.

What’s Trending, Individually
Freshman guard Bruce Brown has grabbed at least four rebounds in 17 of 18 games, has eight-or-more in seven outings and pulled down double-digit boards in two contests. He has at least two assists in 13 contests, with five-plus in seven outings.
Freshman Dewan Huell has scored in five straight games.
Sophomore Ebuka Izundu has a block in seven of the last 12 outings and has scored in 10 of his last 12 games.
Sophomore guard Anthony Lawrence, Jr., has swiped at least one steal in each game but five, and had three-or-more in four outings. He has five-plus rebounds in seven of the last 11 outings.
Redshirt senior forward Kamari Murphy has recorded a pair of double-doubles (vs. Wofford, vs. NC State). He has pulled down double-digit boards in seven outings.
Junior point guard Ja’Quan Newton has recorded four 20-point games this season. He has scored 11-plus points in every game but three (WFU-9, FAU-8, Syracuse-8). Newton has three steals in a trio of games and has dished out three-or-more assists in 12 outings. He has made at least one free throw in every game but two (GW and Pitt).
Senior guard Davon Reed has scored in double digits 15 times this season, including 13 of the last 14 games. He has scored 20-plus in four outings this season. He has grabbed five-plus rebounds in eight games. Reed has hit at least one shot from long range in every game, with multiple threes in 14 contests, led by five against Duke and FAU. He has multiple threes in 10 straight games. He has three-plus assists in eight games.
Freshman DJ Vasiljevic has drained three-or-more shots from 3-point range in five games and has hit a three in all but four outings (Florida, Rutgers, FAU, Duke).

Brown Ranked Nationally Among Freshmen
Freshman Bruce Brown is highly ranked among freshmen in the nation, as well as among all players in the ACC and in NCAA stats.
Among rookies around the country, he is 14th in steals per game, and third among freshmen guards in both rebounds per game and in defensive rebounds. In the ACC (all players), he is sixth in steals and 16th in rebounds per game.

Canes in National Stats
Miami is ranked in the top 100 in 13 NCAA statistical categories, through games as of Jan. 23. The Canes are 11th in scoring defense (61.9), 11th in fewest fouls, and No. 25 in field goal percentage defense (39.5%). UM is also No. 23 in rebound margin (7.1) and No. 38 in 3-point field goal defense (31.2). A complete list of national stats is on page seven of the notes.

R33D from Long Range
Senior guard Davon Reed has knocked down 33 shots from long range in the past 10 games. He hit five against Duke and FAU, four at Pitt, three against SC State, George Washington, Columbia, NC State and Wake Forest, and a pair at Syracuse and vs. Notre Dame. For the year, he is 46-114 (40.4%) from downtown, hitting multiple 3-pointers in 14 outings, including three-or-more nine times.
Reed has hit at least one three in every game this season. In 2011-12, Malcolm Grant tied Jack McClinton’s school record (set in 2008-09) of 35 straight games hitting a 3-point shot.

Brown Finding His Touch from Downtown
Freshman Bruce Brown is knocking down 3-pointers at a 56.5 percent clip in the past eight games, after hitting only 20.8 percent of his threes in the first 10 games. Since the game against GW, Brown has drained 13-of-23 from long range and improved to 12.0 points per game in those eight outings. Prior to GW, Brown was 5-of-24 from long range, and averaging 10.4 ppg.