Game Day: Miami vs. Michigan State - March 17

[8] Miamivs.[9] Michigan State

Setting the Scene
Date: Friday, March 17, 2017
Time: 9:20 p.m.
Location: BOK Center | Tulsa, Okla.

Broadcasts
TV: TNT – Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner, Dana Jacobson
Radio: 560 WQAM – Joe Zagacki

Polls (as of 3/13)
Miami – AP: NR / USA Today: NR / NCAA RPI: 42 / KenPom: 32 / Warren Nolan: 42
MSU – AP: NR / USA Today: NR / NCAA RPI: 50 / KenPom: 43 / Warren Nolan: 50

Weather
Coral Gables, Fla.: High 72 / Low 59
East Lansing, Mich.: High 42 / Low 31

No. 8 seed Miami Hurricanes (21-11, 10-8 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga
Record at Miami: 139-68, sixth season
Career Record: 609-402, 33rd season

No. 9 seed Michigan State Spartans (19-14, 10-8 B1G)
Head Coach: Tom Izzo
Record at MSU: 543-219, 22nd season
Career Record: 543-219, 22nd season

Miami in the NCAA Tournament
The Canes are the No. 8 seed for the first time in UM history.
Miami’s highest seed has been No. 2, in 2013 and 1999.
All-time against potential 2017 regional opponents, Miami is 1-0 vs. Michigan State, 1-3 vs. Kansas, 4-0 vs. NC Central and 0-0 vs. UC Davis.
Miami has never faced a team with the seed of nine, one or 16.
The Canes are playing in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time.
Miami is 8-8 in NCAA Tournament play.
UM has won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament in five of the eight appearances, including three-straight and in five of the last six.
Under head coach Jim Larrañaga, Miami is 4-2 in the NCAA Tournament in his six seasons at the helm. The Hurricanes were 4-6 in their first six appearances in the Tournament.
UM has won five of its last eight games in the NCAA Tournament after going 2-1 in both 2016 and 2013, and 1-1 in 2008.
Five different coaches have led Miami to its nine NCAA appearances. Jim Larrañaga (3: 2013, 2016, 2017) and Leonard Hamilton (3: 1998-00) are the only coaches to lead the Canes to multiple NCAA berths.
Under Coach Jim Larrañaga, the Hurricanes have reached the NCAA Tournament each time the Canes have won their conference openers.
Murphy Playing in Fourth NCAA Tournament
Redshirt senior Kamari Murphy is playing in his fourth NCAA Tournament. He made two appearances with Oklahoma State in 2012-13 (0-1) and 2013-14 (0-1), now has a pair of appearances with Miami in 2015-16 (2-1) and 2016-17.

Miami in the Top 18
Miami is one of 17 teams in the NCAA Tournament to play in a pair of Sweet 16s since the 2012-13 campaign. The Canes are one of six ACC teams to do so: Louisville – 2013, 2014, 2015; Duke – 2013, 2015, 2016; Miami – 2013, 2016; Virginia – 2014, 2016; Notre Dame – 2015, 2016; North Carolina – 2015, 2016.

Miami vs. Top RPI Teams
Miami was 2-4 against top-10 RPI teams this season, with victories over RPI No. 5 North Carolina and No. 6 Duke. The Canes were 4-10 against top-50 RPI teams and 17-1 against teams with a final RPI of less than 50. The only loss was on the road at No. 84 Syracuse.

Miami vs. NCAA Tournament Teams
Miami played 10 teams (14 games) this regular season that went on to earn NCAA Tournament bids, winning four of those games. The Hurricanes compiled a 2-3 record against teams that earned top-two seeds, with wins over NCAA 1-seed North Carolina and 2-seed Duke.

UM Unranked to 8-Seed
Miami is an 8-seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, one of 15 teams among the top eight seeds that was not ranked in the AP preseason poll.
Five teams in the past 50 years have won the national championship after being unranked in the AP preseason poll: 1966 Texas Western, 1985 Villanova, 2003 Syracuse, 2006 Florida and 2011 Connecticut.

The Matchup Between Miami and Michigan State
Coach L is 4-3 all-time against Michigan State.
Miami is 1-0 against Michigan State, with the only meeting coming in the in the 2012 ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Canes defeated the then-No. 13/14 Spartans, 67-59, at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla.
Larrañaga’s Cinderella run with George Mason to the 2006 Final Four began with a 75-65 defeat of Michigan State, on March 17 in Dayton, Ohio. That season, GMU also downed North Carolina, Wichita State and UConn on the way to the Final Four. Coach L was the first coach to take a mid-major to a Final Four in 27 years (Penn ‘79) when his team advanced in 2006.
On Dec. 18, 1989, Coach L and Bowling Green handed then-No. 25 MSU its first defeat (81-79) in the newly-opened Breslin Center. On the return trip to Bowling Green, the Falcons defeated the then-No. 5 Spartans, 98-85, on Dec. 1, 1990 in Ohio.

Miami Basketball Teams Make School History
The UM men’s and women’s basketball teams have both landed in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season, the first time both Miami basketball teams play in The Dance in consecutive years.

Miami in Tournament Play Under Coach L
In six seasons under Coach L, Miami is 30-14 in tournament play, including regular and postseason. The Canes are 4-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
2016-17: AdvoCare Invitational (1-2), ACC Tournament (1-1).
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).

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.