Game Day: GT at Miami - Feb. 15

Georgia TechatMiami

Setting the Scene
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017
Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Watsco Center | Coral Gables, Fla.

-/rv Miami Hurricanes (16-8, 6-6 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga
Record at Miami: 134-65, sixth season
ACC Record at Miami: 60-40
Career Record: 604-399, 33rd season

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (15-10, 6-6 ACC)
Head Coach: Josh Pastner
Alma Mater: Arizona, 1997
Record at GT: 15-10, first year
Career Record: 181-83, eighth year

Broadcasts
TV: ACC Network – Mike Gleason, Cory Alexander – http://theacc.co/mbb17accn0215b
Affiliates in Florida: Jacksonville – This TV; Miami-Fort Lauderdale – My Network TV; Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne – My Network TV; Panama City – This TV; Tallahassee-Thomasville – CW; West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce – My Network TV.
Radio: 560 WQAM, Sirius 135, XM 382, Internet 962 – Joe Zagacki
Internet: ACC Network Extra – http://es.pn/2jFXX2R

Series
All-time: 12-8
Since rebirth in 1985-86: 11-7
Home: 5-4
Away: 7-4
Neutral: 0-0
Under Coach Larrañaga: 5-2
Coach L all-time vs. Georgia Tech: 5-3
Current streak: Miami won 1.
Last matchup: Feb. 7, 2016. No. 17/15 Miami won, 75-68.
Last Georgia Tech win: Jan. 28, 2015. GT def. No. 23 Miami 50-70

Polls
Miami – AP: NR / USA Today: RV (7) / RPI: 52 / KenPom: 34 / Warren Nolan: 52
GT – AP: NR / USA Today: NR / RPI: 78 / KenPom: 79 / Warren Nolan: 78

Weather
Coral Gables, Fla.: High 86 / Low 70 Atlanta: High 52 / Low 32

The Series – Miami vs. Georgia Tech
Miami is 12-8 all-time against Georgia Tech and has won 11 of the last 15 meetings with the Yellow Jackets.
Coach L is 5-2 against Georgia Tech as head coach at Miami. He also won his 500th game against the Yellow Jackets back in 2013.
Davon Reed scored 15 points while Ja’Quan Newton finished with 14 in last year’s 75-68 win over Georgia Tech. Anthony Lawrence, Jr., was solid off the bench, pitching in five points, three boards and three assists.
This will be Coach L’s second career matchup with Josh Pastner, who is in his first year with Georgia Tech.

Larrañaga Continues to Top Milestones
Against Georgia Tech, Larrañaga will coach in his 200th game at Miami, after arriving in Coral Gables for the 2011-12 campaign. Coach L has passed many milestones this season, including winning his 600th career game (Jan. 14 at Pitt), coaching in his 1,000th career game (Feb. 1 vs. Florida State) and coaching Miami’s 1,000th program win (Dec. 28 vs. Columbia).

Ranked Opponents Ahead for Miami
Three of Miami’s final six 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. 12/14 Duke (2/25) next weekend. UM faces two ranked teams on their respective home courts: No. 14/15 Virginia (2/20) and No. 17/18 Florida State (3/4).
Of Miami’s six remaining games, three are against teams ranked above the Canes in the current ACC standings: Florida State (9-4), Virginia (8-4) and Duke (8-4). Two are against teams tied with Miami at 6-6: Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. And one is vs. Clemson (3-9), which is ranked lower in the ACC.

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 49 shots from long range in the past 16 games. He hit seven at NC State and five against both Duke and FAU. For the year, he is 62-151 (41.1%) 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 (24 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. 14/15 Virginia and No. 17/18 Florida State, while playing No. 12/14 Duke at home.

Individual Numbers Against Ranked Teams
In Miami’s six games against AP top-25 teams this year, four Hurricanes are putting up stout numbers against the top teams in the nation.
Ja’Quan Newton leads all scorers with 15.5 ppg, followed by Davon Reed’s 14.3 ppg and Bruce Brown’s 13.8 ppg. Kamari Murphy is pulling down 9.2 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 and is now eligible for Academic All-America honors. The award recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

Izundu Adding Depth for Canes
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, he added eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and went 3-of-4 from the field for eight points at Louisville.
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 eight losses.
Three Hurricanes are scoring in double digits: Davon Reed – 15.5 ppg, Ja’Quan Newton – 15.0 ppg and Bruce Brown – 11.7 ppg. Those three guys account for 58.3 percent (1012 of 1737 points scored) of Miami’s scoring, equating to 42.2 of Miami’s 72.4 points per game. In league play, Reed (16.8), Newton (14.7) and Brown (12.8) provide 63.1 percent (532-843) of Miami’s points.

Canes Facing Hungry Teams
Miami has played nine ACC games against a team coming off of a loss. Miami (5-4) won at Syracuse, at Pitt, vs. Boston College, at NC State and vs. Virginia Tech, but lost at Wake Forest, at Duke, vs. Florida State and at Louisville after the opponent had lost its previous game.

Davon Reed Steps Up in ACC Play
Senior guard Davon Reed has improved his stats tremendously from the non-conference to ACC action. In 12 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. 13. The Canes are 17th in fewest fouls, No. 26 in rebound margin (6.0), 35th in scoring defense (64.5) and No. 47 in field goal percentage defense (41.0%). UM is also No. 96 in 3-point FG percentage (36.9%)and No. 99 in FG percentage (46.1%). 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 two (FSU, Louisville), 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.
Twelve of Miami’s 16 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 six of the last nine outings, including his 30 points against UNC. He has grabbed at least four rebounds in 22 of 24 games, has eight-or-more in seven outings and pulled down double-digit boards in two contests. He has at least two assists in 18 contests, with five-plus in nine outings.
Freshman Dewan Huell has scored in 11 straight games and has a rebound in nine straight outings.
Sophomore Ebuka Izundu has multiple rebounds in all but three games this season. Izundu has scored eight-plus points in three straight outings for the first time in his career.
Sophomore guard Anthony Lawrence, Jr., has swiped at least one steal in each game but nine, and had three-or-more in five outings. He has five-plus rebounds in eight of the last 17 outings. He has hit a 3-pointer in 15 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 11 games. He has scored double digit points in back-to-back 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 20 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 16 games. He has three-plus assists in 12 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).