Game Day: No. 25 UM at No. 15/17 FSU -March 4

No. 25 MiamiatNo. 15/17 Florida State

Setting the Scene
Date: Saturday, March 4, 2017
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Donald L. Tucker Center | Tallahassee, Fla.

No. 25 Miami Hurricanes (20-9, 10-7 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga
Record at Miami: 138-66, sixth season
ACC Record at Miami: 64-41
Career Record: 608-400, 33rd season

#15/17 Florida State Seminoles (23-7, 11-6 ACC)
Head Coach: Leonard Hamilton
Record at FSU: 279-193, 15th season
Career Record: 475-403, 29th season

Broadcasts
TV: ACC Network – Evan Lepler and Bobby Cremins http://theacc.co/mbb17accn0304b 
Affiliates in Florida: Fort Myers-Naples-CW; Gainesville-ABC; Jacksonville-IND; Miami-Fort Lauderdale-My Network TV; Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne-My Network TV; Panama City-This TV; Tallahassee-Thomasville-CW; Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota)-CW; West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce-CW.
Radio: 560 WQAM – Joe Zagacki
Internet: ACC Network Extra – http://es.pn/2mcHbgL 

Series
All-time: 34-44
Since rebirth in 1985-86: 14-20
Home: 27-13
Away: 8-28
Neutral: 0-2
Under Coach Larrañaga: 7-5
Coach L all-time vs. Florida State: 7-5
Current streak: Florida State won 1.
Last matchup: Feb. 1, 2017. No. 15/16 Florida State won, 75-57.
Last Miami win: Feb. 14, 2016. No. 12/11 Miami won, 67-65.

Polls
Miami – AP: 25 / USA Today: 25 / RPI: 37 / KenPom: 29 / Warren Nolan: 37
FSU – AP: 15 / USA Today: 17 / RPI: 12 / KenPom: 18 / Warren Nolan: 12

Weather
Coral Gables, Fla.: High 74 / Low 66
Tallahassee, Fla.: High 72 / Low 45

Tidbits About the Series – Miami vs. Florida State
Miami is 8-28 all-time on the road against Florida State, and 3-2 under Coach L.
The Hurricanes have won seven of the last 11 games with the Seminoles.
In 1959, Miami’s Harry Manushaw grabbed a remarkable 27 rebounds in a game against Florida State. That is just two shy of Miami’s all-time record for rebounds in a game, which is held by Rick Barry, who once had 29.

The Miami – FSU Rivalry Goes Beyond the Hardwood
In football, nearly half of the Miami-Florida State games (30 of 61 previous meetings) have been decided by eight points or fewer, including last year’s match up (FSU won, 20-19). Seven games in the series have been decided by a single point. Miami is 7-1 in those games. At least one team has entered the Miami-Florida State game unbeaten in 28 of the last 32 years.
In women’s tennis, Miami is 34-6 against FSU, and UM won the first 16 finished matches.
In men’s tennis, Miami is 48-17 against the Seminoles, with UM winning the first 33 matches.
In baseball, Miami won two of three in its regular season series at Florida State in 2016 to clinch the ACC Regular Season Championship. It was the Hurricanes’ second ACC Regular Season Championship in the past three seasons. The series victory was Miami’s first over FSU at Dick Howser Stadium since 2008.

Reed Top Scholar-AThelte in ACC – Skip Prosser Award Winner
Davon Reed is the recipient of the ACC’s 2017 Skip Prosser Award, presented annually to the top scholar-athlete in ACC men’s basketball. Reed will graduate in May with a degree in sports administration and double minors in communications and marketing. A three-time All-ACC Academic Team selection, he is also one of four of the league’s top 20 scorers to be named to the 2017 All-ACC Academic Team.
“Davon Reed is the epitome of what a great student-athlete is all about,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “He’s been our captain for the last three seasons because of his tremendous leadership qualities. He has been a Dean’s List student since the day he arrived on our Miami campus. He’s not only a great student, but he’s also a tremendous basketball player. Davon is a complete player. He can score at the rim or from 3-point range, and he’s a relentless defender and rebounder. But what separates Davon from other great student-athletes is his leadership off the court, on campus and in the community. He works tirelessly with the youngsters in Coral Gables and has been an inspirational leader for our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Skip Prosser would have loved to have coached Davon. Skip would be happy to have Davon’s name on his award for the role model he’s been the last four years.”

Brown Named to All-ACC Academic Basketball Team
Bruce Brown has been named to the All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball Team. Brown is majoring in sports administration at Miami.

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 games at No. 14/15 Virginia (won), vs. No. 10/11 Duke (won) , at RV Virginia Tech (lost) and at No. 15/17 Florida State.

Home Court Advantage in the ACC
Florida State is 17-0 (8-0 ACC) on their home court this season. Of the top 10 teams in the ACC, only one (Virginia) has lost three or more ACC games at home. Those 10 teams are 70-13 (84.3%) at home in league action.
Miami has won 27 of its last 29 games at the Watsco Center, with a 14-2 mark this season, added to 13 straight victories in the 2015-16 campaign. In six seasons under Coach L, Miami is 77-22 overall at home, 40-7 in non-conference play at home and 38-15 in ACC action at home.

Brown Turns It Up Against Ranked ACC Teams
In seven games against ranked ACC opponents, Bruce Brown averages 7.1 more points per game than in the nine games against unranked ACC foes. He also hits 8.4 percent better from the field and 16.7 percent higher from three and 13.3 percent better at the line, while blocking 1.0 more shots per game.

Playing as the Underdog
Miami is 11-22 under Coach Larrañaga when entering a game as the underdog against an AP top-25 ranked team. The Canes are 6-11 when the opponent is in the AP top 10, and 3-4 when the game is at home against an AP top-10 team.

Canes Facing Hungry Teams
Against Florida State, Miami will play its 12th ACC game against a team coming off of a loss. Miami (7-4) won at Syracuse, at Pitt, vs. Boston College, at NC State, vs. Virginia Tech, at Virginia and vs. Duke, but lost at Wake Forest, at Duke, vs. Florida State and at Louisville after the opponent had lost its previous game.

Amp’ed Up at Virginia Tech
Sophomore Anthony “Amp” Lawrence led Miami in scoring for the first time this season, with 18 points at Virginia Tech. He was 6-of-9 overall, 3-of-5 from distance and 3-of-4 at the line in 28 minutes.

Brown Named ACC Freshman of the Week
Bruce Brown was named the ACC Freshman of the Week Feb. 27. Brown had ice in his veins in pair of Miami wins against nationally ranked teams, knocking down the game-winning 3-pointer in overtime at No. 18/19 Virginia, then scoring 25 points in the Canes’ win over No. 10/11 Duke. This week Brown averaged 19.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks in 40.0 minutes per game.

Murphy Finishing Senior Season Strong
Redshirt senior Kamari Murphy is averaging 10.6 points and 6.1 rebounds in 33.7 minutes over the last seven games, hitting 72.7 percent (32-44) from the field in those games. He has scored in double digits five of the last seven outings and grabbed at least eight rebounds three times. He also recorded a double-double at Virginia (10p, 11r), his first since the ACC opener against NC State (11p, 10r). He has shot better than 62 percent in six of those seven games.
In the previous 10 ACC games, he averaged 5.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in 29.0 minutes. He was 20-47 (42.6%) from the field in those 10 games. He had 11 points once, and shot better than 62 percent only once (4-of-4 at Syracuse).

Individual Numbers Against Ranked Teams
In Miami’s eight games against AP top-25 teams this year, four Hurricanes are putting up stout numbers against the top teams in the nation. Bruce Brown leads all scorers with 15.3 ppg, followed by Ja’Quan Newton’s 14.3 ppg and Davon Reed’s 13.0 ppg. Kamari Murphy is pulling down 9.0 rpg in ranked matchups. A complete stat sheet against ranked teams is on page 10 of the notes.
Those ranked matchups include: at No. 4 Louisville, No. 9/6 North Carolina, No. 10/11 Duke, No. 15/16 Florida State, at No. 18 Duke, at No. 18/19 Virginia, No. 20 Notre Dame and vs. No. 21/22 Iowa State.

Quick Hits – Team
Miami has made six or more shots from three in every ACC game but four (vs. Florida State, at Louisville, at Virginia, vs. Duke), after doing so in only eight of 12 non-conference outings.
For the season, the Canes have shot better than 45 percent in 17 games, and eight times in ACC play.
UM’s defense has held opponents to shoot less than 31 percent from downtown in 14 games (seven in ACC).
Miami has forced double-digit turnovers in 21 outings.
Twelve of Miami’s 17 victories are by a double-digit margin.

What’s Trending, Individually
Freshman guard Bruce Brown has scored in double digits in eight of the last 13 outings, including his 30 points against UNC and 25 against Duke. He has grabbed at least four rebounds in 24 of 29 games, has eight-or-more in seven outings and pulled down double-digit boards in two contests. He has at least two assists in 22 contests, with five-plus in 12 outings.
Freshman Dewan Huell has scored in 15 of the last 16 games and has a rebound in 14 straight outings.
Sophomore Ebuka Izundu has multiple rebounds in all but three games this season. Izundu has scored eight-plus points in four of the last eight outings.
Sophomore guard Anthony Lawrence, Jr., has swiped at least one steal in each game but nine, and had three-or-more in six outings. He has hit a 3-pointer in 17 games.
Redshirt senior forward Kamari Murphy has recorded a trio of double-doubles (vs. Wofford, vs. NC State, at Virginia). He has pulled down double-digit boards in eight outings. He has a block in 11 of the last 16 games. He has scored double digit points in five of the last seven 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 five (WFU-9, FAU-8, Syracuse-8, Duke-7, VT-2). 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 three (GW, Pitt, Virginia Tech).
Senior guard Davon Reed has scored in double digits 24 times this season, including 21 of the last 25 games. He has scored 20-plus in six outings this season. He has grabbed five-plus rebounds in 14 games. Reed has hit at least one shot from long range in every game but vs. Duke, with multiple threes in 19 contests, led by seven at NC State and five at Duke and FAU. He has multiple threes in 15 of the last 21 games. He has three-plus assists in 14 games.
Freshman DJ Vasiljevic has drained three or more shots from 3-point range in six games and has hit a three in all but six outings (Florida, Rutgers, FAU, Duke, NC State, Duke).