Sunshine State Showdown
Jan. 27 | 6 p.m. | ACCN
Donald L. Tucker Civic Center | Tallahassee, Fla.
Miami (6-8, 2-7 ACC) at No. 16 Florida State (9-2, 5-1 ACC)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Canes and the Noles. Miami and FSU.
You can flip the order or call it whatever you want; there is no doubt it is one of the best rivalries in college sports.
The storied in-state matchup is next on the docket for the University of Miami men’s basketball team, which heads to Tallahassee, Fla., this week. The sides will square off Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.
“Miami and Florida State compete for students and for in-state recognition, and it’s always important when you play your rival that you’re at your best,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said.
The Hurricanes will have their hands full when they take on No. 16 Florida State, which has quickly become one of the hottest teams in the country.
Since returning from a two-week pause due to COVID-19 protocols, the Seminoles are 4-0 with the victories by an average of 17.8 points per game. That includes a 105-73 demolition of NC State to begin the stretch and, most recently, an 80-61 thrashing of No. 20 Clemson to cap it, both in Tallahassee.
On the season as a whole, Florida State sports a 9-2 (5-1 ACC) record, sits in second place in the conference and holds a top-20 ranking.
“I think Florida State is the most talented team in the ACC right now, in terms of athletic ability, size and the ability to play both ends of the court,” Larrañaga said. “Their ability to play full-court defense, half-court defense and rebound [is impressive]. They’re also shooting the ball extremely well right now.”
The Seminoles, who were picked third in the ACC preseason poll after going 26-5 (16-4) and winning the league crown last year, feature a balanced scoring attack. Senior guard MJ Walker is the team’s leading scorer at 14.5 points per game, with only freshman guard Scottie Barnes also averaging in double figures.
In addition, Florida State is holding opponents to just 40.0 percent shooting and outrebounding foes by 4.1 boards per outing.
Larrañaga knows his team will need to focus on specific areas of its game if it wants to have a chance at pulling the road upset against such a talented team.
“Well, the first thing is we can’t get into just a run and shoot game with them. We’ve got to control the tempo and do a good job of limiting our turnovers,” the two-time ACC Coach of the Year said. “Turnovers are part of the major key to their success, where they get a lot of open-court opportunities. Secondly, we just have to shoot the ball better than we have in recent games.”
The Hurricanes have indeed struggled to shoot the ball of late, posting clips of just 41.9 percent overall and 22.7 percent from 3-point range over the past six games.
In its last two affairs, setbacks at Syracuse and against Notre Dame, Miami (6-8, 2-7 ACC) has posted clips under 40 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
“It’s very difficult to improve your shooting during the season if you’re not a good shooter because you probably have to change some of your mechanics,” Larrañaga shared. “…Our best shooters, like Chris Lykes and Kam McGusty, were out for a very long period of time. Kam showed last night that he’s starting to get himself back into shape. He scored 20 points and is looking better and better.
“Chris Lykes, though, is still out,” Larrañaga continued. “He’s our leading returning scorer, he’s our go-to guy, he’s our Preseason First Team All-Conference pick. Without his ability to be a catalyst for both our offense and defense, that responsibility has to be shared by Harlond Beverly, Isaiah Wong and Elijah Olaniyi. None of those guys are really prolific 3-point shooters.”
As Larrañaga mentioned, McGusty did indeed excel in the Hurricanes’ most recent game. His season-high 20 points in a 73-59 loss to Notre Dame Sunday night at the Watsco Center came on 8-of-15 shooting.
The eight makes tied a career best in ACC play for McGusty, who has missed nearly eight full games this season due to a right hamstring injury.
“In the shootaround on Sunday afternoon, Kam dunked the ball for the first time in over a month,” Larrañaga said. “It’s a situation where, the more he plays, the more he gets in good shape, the more productive he will be.”
McGusty was not the only Hurricane who turned in a solid outing against the Fighting Irish, as Wong, a sophomore guard, tallied 16 points. Senior guard Elijah Olaniyi added 10 points, a co-team-high five rebounds and season-best four steals.
In addition, redshirt junior forward Deng Gak had one of his best collegiate showings, notching six points, a season-high-tying five rebounds, career-best three steals and one block. He earned 20 minutes of playing time in the game, matching his career best.
“He’s made an impact both offensively and defensively when he’s been in there,” Larrañaga remarked. “So, we’ve got to look very seriously as to whether we should move him into the starting lineup and give him even more playing time. He’s done a nice job with the minutes he’s gotten. The unfortunate thing and the reason he hasn’t been in there is he doesn’t practice very often because of his knees.”
Gak is one of many Hurricanes dealing with injuries this season, as Miami has dealt with an ever-changing list of unavailable players.
Redshirt senior forward Sam Waardenburg (all 14), Lykes (12), redshirt senior center Rodney Miller Jr. (nine), McGusty (seven), freshman guard Earl Timberlake (seven), sophomore forward Anthony Walker (one) and Gak (one) have combined to miss 51 games due to injury.
Other Hurricanes, including freshman forward Matt Cross and sophomore guard Harlond Beverly, have also played through pain.
The constant unknown of who will be available has made it quite difficult for the Hurricanes to get ready for the talented opponents they face on a nightly basis in the ACC.
“Well, it’s not even just the game planning, but the practice planning, where you planned on doing certain drills that require 10 players and then you only have eight,” Larrañaga shared. “You prepare for the game by having to defend an opponent’s offense and [when doing so], you have walk-ons who are good kids and hard workers, but they’re not the level of an ACC player. So, even if you do it well, it’s really not indicative of what the game is going to present. In order to prepare properly, you really need a full complement of players. We just haven’t had that for the entire season.”
Miami hopes it will have enough preparation and enough bodies to add another win in the most-played series in program history.
This will be the 86th all-time meeting between the Hurricanes and the Seminoles, with the latter holding a 49-36 edge. The only other foe Miami has played over 80 times is Stetson, which is the only Division I team it has more wins against (50) and the Florida State.
In the last matchup between the two teams, the eighth-ranked Seminoles came away with a 99-81 victory on their home court on Feb. 8, 2020.
Miami’s rivalry contest will be televised live on ACC Network HERE, with Mike Couzens and Jordan Cornette on the call. Joe Zagacki and Danny Rabinowitz will have the radio broadcast on 560 The Joe WQAM HERE. Live stats for the contest can be found HERE.
Following its game against the Seminoles, Miami will visit Winston-Salem, N.C., where it meets Wake Forest Saturday at 7 p.m. at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, with action set to be televised live on ACC Network.
To keep up with the University of Miami men’s basketball team on social media, follow @CanesHoops on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The 2020-21 Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball season is presented by First National Bank.
