Miami Hurricanes Head to Syracuse for First ACC Road Game
After opening the ACC portion of their schedule with 81-63 victory against North Carolina State, the Miami Hurricanes will travel to Syracuse for their first ACC Road game of the 2016-17 season.
Miami played maybe its most complete game of the season in the victory over the Wolfpack. The Hurricanes took control after NC State scored the first two points of the game and would never trail again.
A bit troubling is that they relinquished another big first half lead. After falling behind 20-13, the Wolfpack went on a 11-4 run to tie the game. UM held its composure and went on their own 9-2 run to push the lead back to seven.
Miami would settle in with a 41-32 lead at the half. The Hurricanes methodically extended the lead in the second half. They outscored NC State by a nearly identical 40-31 after halftime.
The Hurricanes were better than the Wolfpack in nearly every aspect of the game. They outshot NC State 47.7 to 38.9 percent, outrebounded them 41 to 33, had nine steals to the Wolfpack’s three and committed eight turnovers compared to NC State’s 15.
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UM shot only 56.5 percent from the free throw line and allowed NC State to connect on ten of 23 three-point attempts, otherwise they played an excellent all around game.
Dennis Smith did most of the damage for NC State. He finished with 21 points including three of eight from three-point range.
Jim Larranaga was impressed with his team’s performance on the defensive end: “Well that was an outstanding performance, defensively, from us, from start to finish. We have great respect for NC State’s ability to put a ton of points on the board.
The Hurricanes used excellent balance on the offensive end. Ja’Quan Newton lead Miami with 21 points. Davon Reed had 20, Bruce Brown had a career high 17 and Kamari Murphy finished with 11 points and ten rebounds.
Syracuse Next:
Setting the Scene
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Carrier Dome | Syracuse, N.Y.
RV Miami Hurricanes (11-2, 1-0 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga
Record at Miami: 129-59, sixth season
ACC Record at Miami: 55-34
Career Record: 599-393, 33rd season
Syracuse Orange (8-6, 0-1 ACC)
Head Coach: Jim Boeheim
Record at Syracuse: 892-348, 41st season
Career Record: 892-348, 41st season
Broadcasts
Television: RSN – Wes Durham, Mike Gminski
Affliate Broadcasts
Radio: 940 WINZ – Joe Zagacki
Online: ACC Network Extra
Series
All-time: Miami trails 7-16
Since rebirth in 1985-86: 7-15
Home: 4-9
Away: 3-7
Neutral: 0-0
Last matchup: Jan. 2, 2016. Miami W, 64-51.
Under Coach Larrañaga: 2-2
Coach L all-time vs. Syracuse: 2-3
Common Opponents:
Syracuse: beat South Carolina State 101-59, beat North Florida 77-71
Miami: won at North Florida 94-56, beat South Carolina State 82-46
Polls
Miami – AP: RV / USA Today: RV / KenPom: 30
Syracuse – AP: NR / USA Today: NR / KenPom: 56
Weather
Coral Gables: High 85 / Low 67
Syracuse, N.Y.: High 37 / Low 21
Miami Coach
will have his first attempt at 600 wins against the Orange.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is back after being suspended for the first nine games of the season. Assistant Mike Hopkins led the Orange to a 6-3 record in the interim.
After starting 4-0. Syracuse lost three of its next four. They lost 64-50 to South Carolina at the Brooklyn Holiday Hoops Invitational at the Barclays Center, 77-60 at Wisconsin in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and 52-50 to UConn at Madison Square Garden.
They added a victory over Boston University in Hopkins last game as Interim Head Coach. Boeheim returned for another matchup against a former Big East foe. The Orange fell 78-71 to Georgetown at the Carrier Dome. Their stretch of losses to former Big East opponents continued when they were throttled by St. John’s 93-60 at home.
The Orange did manage to sandwich wins over Eastern Michigan and Cornell in that stretch. They opened ACC play with their fourth loss of the season to a former Big East team when they fell 96-81 at Boston College.
Miami will be the fifth former Big East Opponent for the Orange this season. Just a season removed from a very surprising run to the Final Four, Syracuse could miss its third NCAA Tournament in the last four seasons.
They have struggled offensively in their losses. The Orange are averaging 62 points per game in their six losses. They are also 0-6 against the Power Six Conferences (including the BIg East) and 8-0 against the rest of their schedule.
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The loss to St. John’s was particularly troubling. The Red Storm outscored Syracuse 54-31 in the second half. St. John’s shot 53.1 percent for the game and made 12 of its 29 three point attempts. The Red Storm is 8-7 this season and their losses include Delaware State and Long Island.
The Orange are led by 6’7 220 Nebraska transfer, guard Andrew White III. White averages 15.3 points per game, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. He shoots just 40.1 percent from the floor, but 38.7 percent on threes.
Sophomore Forward Tyler Lydon is their only other player averaging in double figures. Lydon is posting 13.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.1 BPG and 1.0 SPG. He shoots 47.9 percent from the floor and 40.5 percent on threes.
The Orange are an average shooting team, but excellent three point shooting team. They connect on 38.8 percent of their three point attempts. Point Guard Franklin Howard is averaging six assists. John Gillon and Tyus Battle are others players to watch from beyond the arc for Syracuse.
The Orange allow a lot of threes on the defensive end, but oddly they are 51st in the country in 3Pt Field goal percentage allowed at 30.5 percent. DJ Vasiljevic, Newton and Davon Reed will be players to watch outside.