Game Day: Miami vs. No. 9/6 UNC - Jan. 28

Setting the Scene
Date: Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Watsco Center | Coral Gables, Fla.

-/rv Miami Hurricanes (13-6, 3-4 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga
Record at Miami: 131-63, sixth season
ACC Record at Miami: 57-38
Career Record: 601-397, 33rd season

No. 9/6 North Carolina Tar Heels (19-3, 7-1 ACC)
Head Coach: Roy Williams
Record at UNC: 383-111, 14th season
Career Record: 801-212, 29th season

Broadcasts
Television: CBS – Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery
Radio: 560 WQAM – Joe Zagacki
1040 Actualidad – Pepe “Chamby” Campos, Jose Martinez, Daniel Ramirez
Compass Media Network – Kevin Ray, Rick Mahorn
Sirius 108, XM 194, Internet 956

Promotions and In-Game Recognition
Coaches vs. Cancer, Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week
Miami Lights app, pregame light show – join here on Apple or Android
Introduction of 2017 football early enrollees
Jim Kelly presentation
UM Sports Hall of Fame basketball members introduced

Series
All-time: 6-20 Since rebirth in 1985-86: 6-18
Home: 2-8
Away: 3-10
Neutral: 1-2
Under Coach Larrañaga: 4-4
Coach L all-time vs. North Carolina: 5-5
Current streak: UNC won 2.
Last matchup: Feb. 20, 2016. No. 11/10 Miami lost at No. 5/4 UNC, 96-71.
Last Miami win: Jan. 8, 2014. 63-57.

The Series: Miami vs. North Carolina
The Hurricanes have won four of the last six meetings with North Carolina.
On February 9, 2013, Miami tied a program record by hitting 15 3-pointers in its 87-81 victory over UNC.
Jim Larrañaga and George Mason bested Roy Williams and UNC, 65-60, in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament on GMU’s way to the Final Four.
Jack McClinton set Miami’s record for most points in ACC game when he scored 35 in 2009 against North Carolina.
Coach L is 4-4 against North Carolina since taking over at Miami.
Miami’s first game in the Watsco Center was Jan. 4, 2003, a 64-61 overtime victory over the Tar Heels.

Home Court Advantage
Miami has won 22 of its last 23 games at the Watsco Center, with an 9-1 mark this season, added to 13 straight victories in the 2015-16 campaign. In six seasons under Coach L, Miami is 72-21 overall at home, 40-7 in non-conference play at home and 33-14 in ACC action at home. In both 2012-13 and 2015-16, the Canes had just one loss overall at the Watsco Center.

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 and will host three games in 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.
Miami – at Pitt, at Wake Forest, at Duke – 4,982 miles
Notre Dame – at Miami, at Virginia Tech, at Florida State – 3,963 miles
Florida State – at Georgia Tech, at Syracuse, at Miami – 2,885 miles
Pitt – at North Carolina, at Duke, at Boston College – 2,358 miles
Georgia Tech – at NC State, at Virginia Tech, at Virginia – 1,678 miles
Research courtesy of ND-SID

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.

Brown – ACC All-Freshman Team Candidate
Freshman Bruce Brown is highly ranked among freshmen in the nation, as well as among guards and all players in the ACC and in NCAA stats. Among rookies around the country, he is second in rebounds, sixth in defensive rebounds and 13th in steals per game. Among ACC freshmen, he he second in rebounds, and steals, third in assists and sixth in points per game.

Ranked Opponents Ahead for Miami
Eight of Miami’s final 11 games will be played against teams currently listed in national polls. The Canes, who are receiving votes (2) in the USA TODAY Coaches 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).

Brown Finding His Touch from Downtown
Freshman Bruce Brown is knocking down 3-pointers at a 56.0 percent clip in the past nine games, after hitting only 20.8 percent of his threes in the first 10 games. Since the game against GW, Brown has drained 14-of-25 from long range and improved to 12.0 points per game in those nine outings. Prior to GW, Brown was 5-of-24 from long range, and averaging 10.4 ppg.

Canes in National Stats
Miami is ranked in the top 100 in 13 NCAA statistical categories, through games as of Jan. 25. The Canes are 11th in scoring defense (61.9), eighth 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. 39 in 3-point field goal defense (31.2). A complete list of national stats is on page seven of the notes.

Beckner Named ACC Basketball Legend
Miami forward Wayne Beckner (1962-65) joins 14 former standout players and an inspirational national championship coach in this year’s class of ACC Basketball Legends presented by New York Life.
Beckner served as the Hurricanes’ team captain for both the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons. The 6-foot-5-inch Flora, Ind., native finished his collegiate career with 960 points, 386 field goals made and 538 rebounds. Beckner was a career 83 percent free-throw shooter, and his Miami tenure included a game in which he connected on 18 field goal attempts (versus Tampa in 1965) and another in which he pulled down 24 rebounds (versus Rollins in 1963). Beckner averaged 18.3 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game for the 1964-65 season, helping to lead the Hurricanes to a 22-4 record. Miami earned postseason appearances in the NIT in both Beckner’s sophomore and junior seasons.

Selling Out the Watsco Center
In just his fifth season in Coral Gables, Jim Larrañaga and Miami SOLD OUT the season ticket allotment for all home games last year at the Watsco Center. It was the first time in Miami athletics history a team sold out their season. And now, the arena is sold out in back-to-back seasons.
For two straight years, fans have bought over 5,500 season tickets, more than doubling the total number of season tickets sold in Larrañaga’s 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, prior to this year’s 5,750 mark.

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 12 games, and three times 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 15 outings.
Miami has outrebounded all but four of its opponents – Stanford (-4), GWU (-1), Syracuse (-4) and Wake Forest (-2).
Eleven of Miami’s 13 victories are by a double-digit margin. The only single-digit margin games were +1 vs. Boston College and +8 vs. GW.

R33D from Long Range
Senior guard Davon Reed has knocked down 35 shots from long range in the past 11 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 and Boston College. For the year, he is 48-119 (40.3%) from downtown, hitting multiple 3-pointers in 15 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.

UMSHoF to Honor Basketball Members at Halftime
At haltime of the Miami-UNC game, the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame will honor its basketball members. UMSHoF members expected to attend are: Wayne Beckner, Octavia Blue, Eric Brown, Julius (Julie) Cohen, Kym Hope, Tamara James, Vicki Plowden, Francis Savage, Coach Fern Labati, 2017 Inductee Steve Edwards, 2017 Inductee Coach Katie Meier.

What’s Trending, Individually
Freshman guard Bruce Brown has grabbed at least four rebounds in 18 of 19 games, has eight-or-more in seven outings and pulled down double-digit boards in two contests. He has at least two assists in 14 contests, with five-plus in seven outings.
Freshman Dewan Huell has scored in six straight games.
Sophomore Ebuka Izundu has scored in 10 of his last 13 games.
Sophomore guard Anthony Lawrence, Jr., has swiped at least one steal in each game but six, and had three-or-more in four outings. He has five-plus rebounds in eight of the last 12 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. He has a block in five of the last six games.
Junior point guard Ja’Quan Newton has recorded five 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 16 times this season, including 14 of the last 15 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 15 contests, led by five against Duke and FAU. He has multiple threes in 11 straight games. He has three-plus assists in nine 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).