Know Your Opponent: Miami

By Matt Bowers

Miami (HurricaneSports.com)
Location: Coral Gables, Fla.
Rankings: No. 102 KenPom, NR AP
Record: 10-8, 2-6 ACC
NET/SOS: No. 90 NET, No. 4 SOS

Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads, 24-8 (UNC 88, Miami 85, Feb. 9, 2019, Smith Center)

Having lost five of its last six games, Miami figures to enter the Smith Center for its Saturday noon showdown just about as desperate for a win as the host Tar Heels.

Carolina may dominate the series, 24-8, but few opponents have been as successful in Chapel Hill as the Hurricanes in recent years under head coach Jim Larranaga. Miami is 3-2 in its last five visits to the Smith Center with wins in 2013, 2014 and 2018.

Sitting a half-game above UNC in the ACC standings, Miami's two conference wins have come against Clemson and Pitt, teams that have beaten UNC three times in recent weeks.

Miami is battle-tested, too, having played the nation's fourth-toughest schedule to this point, including five games already against Duke, Florida State and Louisville.

Last year, the Canes took the Tar Heels to overtime in Chapel Hill, and it took seven three-pointers from Coby White and a game-tying three by Luke Maye with 10.2 seconds left in OT to secure a hard-won victory.

Several of the key cogs from last year's squad are back in Coral Gables in 2019-20. Entering the weekend, the Canes are the only team with three of the ACC's top 20 scorers.

Like a season ago, point guard Chris Lykes keys the attack. The 5-7 junior is quick, crafty and dangerous to opponents with and without the ball in his hands. He's the Atlantic Coast Conference's second-leading returning scorer at 16.2 points per game, and he's shown an ability to confound far taller opponents with his ballhandling throughout his career in Coral Gables. He enters Saturday averaging 15.7 ppg and shooting 37 percent from behind three-point rane.

Another familiar face is senior shooting guard DJ Vasiljevic, who averages 14.6 ppg. He's an aggressive outside gunner who has taken 115 of his 190 shot attempts this season from behind the three-point line, hitting over 42 percent of them.

Kameron McGusty, a transfer from the University of Oklahoma, is also averaging over 14 points a game while adding versatility to Miami's three-wing lineup.

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Luke Maye

Coby White

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