University of North Carolina Athletics
Know Your Opponent: Miami
January 28, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Miami (HurricaneSports.com)
Location: Coral Gables, Fla.
Rankings: UM - No. 42 KenPom, NR AP; UNC - No. 7 KenPom, No. 9 AP
Records: UM - 13-6, 3-4 ACC; UNC - 19-3, 7-1 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 20-6 (UNC 96, Miami 71, Feb. 20, 2016, Smith Center)
After losing four seniors, including Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez, from last year's Sweet 16 team, Miami has had a mixed start to 2016-17. The Hurricanes are 13-6 overall, but they've dipped to 3-4 in ACC play after dropping four of their last six. The conference schedule has done them no favors, with four of their first six league contests coming away from Coral Gables.
But Saturday marks the second of a three-game homestand, and Watsco Center has been a fortress for the Canes under Jim Larrañaga. Miami has won 24 of 26 games on campus since the start of the 2015-16 season, and Larrañaga is 72-21 at home as the head coach at UM. That run includes a famous 87-61 rout of UNC in a 2013 season that included Miami's first ACC title.
UM has largely been winning with defense. The Canes rank 28th nationally in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency and are 18th-best in effective FG% defense. Freshman Bruce Brown is in the top 20 in the ACC in both block percentage and steal percentage, while sophomore Anthony Lawrence is 88th in the country in steal percentage. Miami also does a good job keeping opponents off the foul line. Combine that with an above-average defensive rebounding rate and the second-slowest adjusted tempo in the league behind Virginia, and the Hurricanes can really limit an opponent's scoring opportunities.
Davon Reed and Ja'Quan Newton have taken over as the team's top scorers in the absence of McClellan and Rodriguez, and both men average better than 15 points per contest. For a scoring point guard, Newton's not much of an outside threat, but he's adept at getting to the rim and to the line. Reed's the team's first option from deep (though Brown's making more than half of his 3s in league play), and the senior is also an elite foul shooter.
Lawrence, a decent shooter in his own right, gives Miami a fourth perimeter presence, while senior Kamari Murphy and freshman Dewan Huell share minutes down low. Murphy is Miami's best rebounder, and the former Oklahoma State transfer ranks in the top 10 in ACC play in both offensive and defensive rebounding.
The Hurricanes missed out on a big chance at a signature road win when Duke outscored them 24-4 in the first 10 minutes of the second half in Durham last Saturday. That loss to the Blue Devils dropped UM to 1-5 against the RPI top 50 and 2-6 against the KenPom top 100. If Miami is going to turn around its season, back-to-back home games against Carolina and Florida State give the Canes a golden opportunity.
