Game Day: Miami vs. Syracuse - March 8

[9] Miamivs.[8] Syracuse

Setting the Scene
Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Barclays Center | Brooklyn, N.Y.

No. 9 Seed Miami Hurricanes (20-10, 10-8 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga 
Record at Miami: 138-67, sixth season
ACC Record at Miami: 64-42
Career Record: 608-401, 33rd season 

No. 8 Seed Syracuse Orange (18-13, 10-8 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Boeheim 
Record at Syracuse: 902-355, 41st season
Career Record: 902-355, 41st season

Miami in the ACC Tournament
Titles: 1, 2013
All-Time Record: 13-11
Coach L Record: 7-4
Quarterfinals: 3-7
Semifinals: 1-1
Finals: 1-0
Record as #9 Seed: 1-2
Record vs. #8 Seed: 2-1
Record vs. Syracuse: 0-0

Broadcasts
TV: ESPN – Karl Ravech, LaPhonzo Ellis and Allison Williams
ACC Network – Tim Brando, Mike Gminski and Jason Capel
Radio: 560 WQAM – Joe Zagacki
Internet: Watch ESPN – http://es.pn/2kRJkOA

Polls (as of 3/4)
Miami – AP: 25 / USA Today: 25 / RPI: 38 / KenPom: 31 / Warren Nolan: 40
Syracuse – AP: NR / USA Today: NR / RPI: 80 / KenPom: 45 / Warren Nolan: 81

Weather
Coral Gables, Fla.: High 80 / Low 66 Brooklyn, N.Y.: High 58 / Low 38

2016-17 Team Highlights
Miami defeated three ranked teams this season, downing No. 9/6 North Carolina, No. 10/11 Duke in Coral Gables, and No. 18/19 Virginia on the road. This is the third-straight year and the fifth time in Coach L’s six seasons that the Canes have defeated two top 15 teams.
After receiving votes in at least one poll each of the first 16 weeks, Miami entered the national rankings for the first time in the 2016-17 season at No. 25 in both the AP and USA TODAY Coaches Poll on Feb. 27.
Miami won its third-straight ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup, defeating Rutgers in Coral Gables, Fla.
Coach Jim Larrañaga has posted five 20-win seasons in his first six years at The U and the Canes have won seven or more ACC games each season under Coach L.
Senior 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.
Freshman Bruce Brown, who is majoring in sports administration, was named to the All-ACC Academic Team.
Freshman guard Bruce Brown recorded a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against South Carolina State on Dec. 6. It was the second triple-double in program history at Miami
Coach Larrañaga recorded his 600th career win on Jan. 14 at Pitt. With 600 wins, he is one of five ACC coaches with 600 victories, and the other four men are in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
In Miami’s 21st game of the season vs. Florida State on Feb. 1, Larrañaga coached his 1,000th career game.
Miami’s game against Georgia Tech was Coach L’s 200th career game at UM.
With a 78-67 win over Columbia on Dec. 28, 2016, the University of Miami men’s basketball program earned its 1,000th program victory.
In his 109th game at The U, senior guard Davon Reed scored 17 points against George Washington, solidifying his name in Miami’s 1,000-point club.
For two straight seasons, Miami has sold out its season ticket allotment for all home games at the Watsco Center.
The Miami coaching staff reeled in Miami’s top recruiting class in program history, signing McDonald’s All-American Dewan Huell, Jordan Brand Classic All-American Bruce Brown, Australian standout Dejan “DJ” Vasiljevic and Rodney Miller from national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Va.). The group was ranked No. 9 from 247Sports, No. 10 from Scout, No. 13 from ESPN and No. 13 from Rivals.
Jim Larrañaga has signed three ESPN Top 100 players for the 2017 class in McDonald’s All-American and Jordan Brand Classic All-American guard Lonnie Walker (No. 18), guard Chris Lykes (46) and forward Deng Gak (92). New Zealander Sam Waardenburg also joins the class, and is practicing with the team this spring.

The Hurricanes in the ACC Tournament
The Canes are the No. 9 seed for the fourth time in UM history.
Miami has never faced Syracuse in the ACC Tournament.
The Canes are playing in the ACC Tournament for the 13th time.
Miami is 13-11 in ACC Tournament play.
Under head coach Jim Larrañaga, Miami is 7-4 in the ACC Tournament in just five seasons. The Hurricanes were 6-7 in the first seven years in the league, including two seasons (2005, 2009) without a victory in the ACC Tournament.
UM has won at least one game in the tournament in 10 of 12 seasons, including seven straight.
UM has won six of its last nine games in the ACC tournament after going 3-0 in 2013 and 1-1 in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Miami won the ACC Tournament in 2013, defeating North Carolina, 87-77, in the championship game, for the Canes’ first ACC title. UM also finished the 2013 regular season atop the standings.
Miami’s three wins in 2013 are the most by the Canes in the ACC Tournament.
Miami’s highest seed was No. 1, in 2013.
Since Miami joined the ACC in 2004-05, four teams have won both the regular season and tournament, once by Miami (2013) and Virginia (2014), twice by Duke (2006, 2009) and three times by North Carolina (2007, 2008 and 2016).
Since 2012, four teams from outside the state of North Carolina have won the ACC Championship: Florida State, Miami, Virginia and Notre Dame. Prior to 2012, a team from North Carolina won the previous seven, and 17 of the past 18.

Canes From New York
Head Coach Jim Larrañaga, associate head coach Chris Caputo and forwards Kamari Murphy and Rodney Miller will return to their home city of New York for the ACC Tournament.
Coach L grew up in the Park Chester neighborhood of The Bronx, playing on the courts “down the east”. He played high school basketball at Archbishop Molloy, for legendary coach Jack Curran. Being from The Bronx, Larrañaga took the city bus to school every day, a trip of 90 minutes.
Caputo is from Elmhurst, N.Y., and also attended Archbishop Molloy, playing for Coach Curran.
Murphy graduated from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, the same school that produced Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair and Lance Stephenson. He averaged 17 points and more than 10 rebounds per game as senior and helped lead Railsplitters to PSAL Class-AA title game as senior and Brooklyn regular-season crown and borough title.
Miller is from Laurelton, N.Y., but played high school ball at Oak Hill.

The Last Time Miami was in New York City…
In 2014-15, Miami made a pair of trips to New York City, facing Providence College at the Barclays Center in December, then playing in the NIT in March and April.
The Canes lost, 76-62, to Providence – Coach L’s alma mater – in the Brooklyn Holiday Hoops Invitational on Dec. 22, 2014.
In the postseason NIT, Miami defeated Temple, 60-57, in Madison Square Garden on March 31, 2015, then lost, 66-64 in overtime, to Stanford in the championship game.

The Matchup Between Miami and Syracuse
Miami is 2-3 against Syracuse since Coach L took over, and the Canes have won two of the last three matchups against the Orange.
Davon Reed has averaged 8.4 points a game in his career against Syracuse, including 16 vs. the Orange as a freshman.
The Hurricanes won last year’s matchup against the Orange despite scoring just 17 points in the first half. Coach L’s squad went off for 47 second half points, 14 of which came from Ja’Quan Newton, and Miami grabbed a 64-51 victory.
Jim Larrañaga’s first matchup with Jim Boeheim came back on Dec. 13, 1995 while Larrañaga was at Bowling Green. Syracuse won that one 75-64.

Miami in Tournament Play Under Coach L
Miami is 15-5 in tournament play over the past three seasons with an 8-2 record in non-conference tournaments, a 2-2 mark in the ACC Tournament, 2-1 clip in the NCAA Tournament and a 4-1 record in the NIT. In six seasons under Coach L, Miami is 29-13 in tournament play, including regular and postseason.
2016-17: AdvoCare Invitational (1-2).
2015-16: Puerto Rico Tip Off (3-0), ACC Tournament (1-1), NCAA Tournament (2-1).
2014-15: Charleston Classic (4-0), ACC Tournament (1-1), NIT (4-1).
2013-14: Wooden Legacy (3-1), ACC Tournament (1-1).
2012-13: Diamond Head Classic (1-2), ACC Tournament (3-0), NCAA Tournament (2-1).
2011-12: Orange Bowl Classic (1-0), ACC Tournament (1-1), NIT (1-1).

The 2016-17 Hurricanes
Miami has nine scholarship players eligible for competition, led by a trio of captains in seniors Davon Reed and Kamari Murphy, along with junior Ja’Quan Newton. Sophomores Anthony Lawrence and Ebuka Izundu also returned for the Hurricanes.
This season a group of four newcomers comprising Miami’s top recruiting class in program history donned a UM jersey for the first time. The Canes’ coaching staff reeled in four freshmen in McDonald’s All-American Dewan Huell, Jordan Brand Classic All-American Bruce Brown, Australian standout Dejan “DJ” Vasiljevic and Rodney Miller from national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Va.). The four-man group was named one of the top 2016 classes in the country, with a No. 9 ranking from 247Sports, No. 10 from Scout, No. 13 from ESPN and No. 13 from Rivals.

Reed ACC’s Top Scholar-Athlete
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.