Game Day: Miami at No. 4 Louisville - Feb. 11

Setting the Scene
Date Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017
Time 2 p.m.
Location KFC Yum! Center | Louisville, Ky.

-/rv Miami Hurricanes (16-7, 6-5 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga 2013 & 2016 ACC Coach of the Year
Record at Miami: 134-64, sixth season ACC Record at Miami: 60-39
Career Record: 604-398, 33rd season Alma Mater: Providence, 1971

No. 4 Louisville Cardinals (19-5, 7-4 ACC)
Head Coach: Rick Pitino Alma Mater: UMass, 1974
Record at UofL: 410-139, 16th year Career Record: 764-267, 32nd year

Broadcasts
TV: ESPN2 – Mike Couzens, Cory Alexander
Radio: 880 WZAB – Joe Zagacki
Internet: ACC Network Extra – http://es.pn/2koCBKR

Series
All-time: Miami 3-9
Since rebirth in 1985-86: 1-4
Home: 3-5
Away: 0-3
Neutral: 0-1
Under Coach Larrañaga: 1-2
Coach L all-time vs. Louisville: 1-2
Current streak: Miami won 1.
Last matchup: Feb. 27, 2016. No. 12/11 Miami def. No. 11 Louisville, 73-65.
Last Louisville win: Feb. 21, 2015. No. 12 Louisville won 53-55.

Polls
Miami – AP: NR / USA Today: RV (4) / RPI: 56 / KenPom: 40 / Warren Nolan: 51
UofL – AP: 4 / USA Today: 4 / RPI: 5 / KenPom: 3 / Warren Nolan: 5

Weather
Coral Gables, Fla.: High 77 / Low 66
Louisville, Ky.: High 50 / Low 58

The Series – Miami vs. Louisville
Then-No. 12/11 Miami defeated then-No. 11/- Louisville, 73-65, in last year’s matchup behind 17 points from Davon Reed.
Miami’s win over Louisville last season was their first over the Cardinals since 1963.
The Canes narrowly lost their last road meeting with the Cardinals falling, 55-53, in 2015. The Hurricanes will be searching for their first win in program history at Louisville. They have, however, only played the Cardinals three times on the road.
Under Coach L, Miami is 1-2 against Louisville. Prior to Larrañaga arriving in Coral Gables, the Canes were 2-7 against the Cardinals.

On the Road at Louisville
Louisville is one of three locations in which the Hurricanes have not won an ACC game under Coach L. The Canes are 0-1 at Louisville, 0-3 at Virginia and 0-3 at Wake Forest since 2011-12. Miami lost at WFU earlier this season, and will play at Virginia on Feb. 20. Miami has a .500 record or better on the road against nine ACC squads. A complete list is on page five of the notes.

Ranked Opponents Ahead for Miami
Four of Miami’s final seven regular season games will be played against teams currently listed in national polls. The Canes, who are receiving votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, host No. 18/19 Duke (2/25) later this season. UM faces three ranked teams on their respective home courts: No. 4 Louisville (2/11), No. 12/13 Virginia (2/20) and No. 14/15 Florida State (3/4).
Of Miami’s seven remaining games, four are against teams ranked above the Canes in the current ACC standings: Florida State (9-3), Virginia (8-3), Louisville (7-4), Duke (6-4). Three are against teams ranked lower in the ACC: Virginia Tech (5-6), Georgia Tech (5-6) and Clemson (3-8).

R33D from Downtown
Senior guard Davon Reed drained 7-of-10 shots from long range at NC State, setting his career high in threes made, on his way to a career-best 26 points. In the next game, he went 4-of-8 from distance against VT.
Reed has knocked down 48 shots from long range in the past 15 games. He hit seven at NC State and five against both Duke and FAU. For the year, he is 61-146 (41.8%) from downtown, hitting multiple 3-pointers in 17 outings, including three-or-more 11 times.
Reed has hit at least one three in every game this season (23 games). In 2011-12, Malcolm Grant tied Jack McClinton’s school record (set in 2008-09) of 35 straight games hitting a 3-point shot.

The ACC Gauntlet
Miami opened the 2016-17 conference slate with four of six games on the road and will end the season with three of four away from home, which includes road games at No. 12/13 Virginia and No. 14/15 Florida State, while playing No. 1/19 Duke at home.

Individual Numbers Against Ranked Teams
In Miami’s five games against AP top-25 teams this year, four Hurricanes are putting up stout numbers against the top teams in the nation.
Davon Reed leads all scorers with 15.8 ppg, followed by Ja’Quan Newton’s 15.6 ppg and Bruce Brown’s 14.2 ppg. Kamari Murphy is pulling down 10.6 rpg in ranked matchups. 

Reed Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team
Senior Davon Reed was one of five student-athletes named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 Team.

Izundu Breaks Out At NC State, Adds More vs. VT
Sophomore Ebuka Izundu recorded 16 points, six rebounds, a block and a steal in 27 minutes at NC State on Feb. 4. He hit 6-of-9 of his shots from the field and was 4-of-5 at the line. Then, against Virginia Tech on Feb. 8, he added eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
Prior to the game against the Wolfpack, Izundu totaled 13 points, 28 rebounds (3.1/g), six blocks (0.7/g) and had no steals in the first nine ACC games of the season. He was 6-of-16 from the field and 1-of-4 at the line in the first nine league outings.
As a rookie, Izundu totaled 10 points, two rebounds, two blocks and two steals in his six ACC appearances. He was 3-of-3 from the field and 4-of-6 at the line in his first year with the Canes.

Scoring from the Hurricanes
This season Miami is 15-1 overall and 6-1 in ACC play when scoring 70+ points. UM has scored fewer than 60 points in five of its seven losses. Three Hurricanes are scoring in double digits: Davon Reed – 15.9 ppg, Ja’Quan Newton – 15.0 ppg and Bruce Brown – 11.7 ppg. Those three guys account for 58.5 percent (978 of 1671 points scored) of Miami’s scoring, equating to 42.5 of Miami’s 72.7 points per game. In league play, Reed (17.7), Newton (14.6) and Brown (12.9) provide 64.1 percent (498-777) of Miami’s points.

Canes Facing Hungry Teams
Heading into the game against Louisville, Miami will play its ninth ACC game against a team coming off of a loss. Miami (5-3) won at Syracuse, at Pitt, vs. Boston College, at NC State and vs. Virginia Tech, but lost at Wake Forest, at Duke and vs. Florida State after previous losses.

Davon Reed Steps Up in ACC Play
Senior guard Davon Reed has improved his stats tremendously from the non-conference to ACC action. In 11 ACC outings, he has scored 17+ points eight times, after doing so just five times in 12 non-conference outings. He is hitting 3.1 shots from long distance per game in ACC play after just 2.3 per game in non-league games.

Canes in National Stats
Miami is ranked in the top 100 in 13 NCAA statistical categories, through games as of Feb. 8. The Canes are fifth in fewest fouls, No. 22 in rebound margin (6.7), 32nd in scoring defense (64.0), and No. 48 in field goal percentage defense (40.8%). UM is also No. 83 in 3-point FG percentage (37.2%), No. 92 in FG percentage (46.2%) and No. 92 in 3-point field goal defense (33.1). A complete list of national stats is on page seven of the notes.

Quick Hits – Team
Miami has made six-or-more shots from three in every ACC game but one (FSU), after doing so in only eight of 12 non-conference outings.
For the season, the Canes have shot better than 45 percent in 15 games, and six times in ACC play.
UM’s defense has held opponents to shoot less than 31 percent from downtown in 11 games (four in ACC).
Miami has forced double-digit turnovers in 18 outings.
Miami has outrebounded all but six of its opponents – Stanford (-4), GWU (-1), Syracuse (-4), Wake Forest (-2), Florida State (-1) and Virginia Tech (even).
Twelve of Miami’s 15 victories are by a double-digit margin. The only single-digit margin games were +1 vs. Boston College, +5 vs. NC State, +6 vs. Virginia Tech and +8 vs. GW.

What’s Trending, Individually
Freshman guard Bruce Brown has scored in double digits in five of the last eight outings, including his 30 points against UNC. He has grabbed at least four rebounds in 21 of 23 games, has eight-or-more in seven outings and pulled down double-digit boards in two contests. He has at least two assists in 17 contests, with five-plus in nine outings.
Freshman Dewan Huell has scored in 10 straight games and has a rebound in eight straight outings.
Sophomore Ebuka Izundu has multiple rebounds in all but three games this season.
Sophomore guard Anthony Lawrence, Jr., has swiped at least one steal in each game but eight, and had three-or-more in five outings. He has five-plus rebounds in eight of the last 16 outings. He has hit a 3-pointer in 14 games and multiple threes in back-to-back games.
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 seven of the last 10 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 14 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 20 times this season, including 18 of the last 19 games. He has scored 20-plus in five outings this season. He has grabbed five-plus rebounds in 10 games. Reed has hit at least one shot from long range in every game, with multiple threes in 17 contests, led by seven at NC State and five against Duke and FAU. He has multiple threes in 13 of the last 15 games. He has three-plus assists in 11 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 five outings (Florida, Rutgers, FAU, Duke, NC State).