Miami at No. 12 Virginia, 7 p.m. Comcast SportsNet
Note: Only a couple hours left to vote in my poll. Where do you think Virginia will finish in the regular-season standings? A win tonight would guarantee first or second, a loss could keep third open as a possibility, and a win tonight and Saturday vs. Syracuse means Virginia would lock up first.
Virginia used a commanding 25-0 run in the second half to down Notre Dame at home, 70-49, Saturday. Virginia built a 12-point lead in the first half but saw it wither away and the Irish tied the game at 30 at halftime. The Cavaliers shot over 70 percent in the second half and held the Irish to just 19 points. The 'Hoos got really strong contributions from Akil Mitchell and Anthony Gill. Mitchell went 7 for 7 from the field and Gill went 5 of 6. They both scored 15 points to lead the team. Malcolm Brogdon added 13 points and Joe Harris had eight. Last year, eight points from Harris meant a loss most likely. This year, on Saturday, it equaled a 21-point victory. That is one of the biggest differences between last season and this season: the offensive balance and the help Harris is receiving. Justin Anderson had just seven points off the bench but made the play of the game. Notre Dame was still very much in it down just 48-43 with just over nine minutes left when the Irish's Zach Auguste was headed up for a dunk. Of course, Anderson always seems to be lurking in these situations. Anderson made a terrific block, starting a fast break that ended with a Gill dunk. 50-43 Wahoos, crowd goes crazy, and ND coach Mike Brey calls another timeout less than a minute after his last one. And it just got worse from there.
Tonight, the Cavaliers (23-5, 14-1) try to not trip up before their mammoth home matchup against Syracuse on Saturday as they face a sneaky Miami squad. Indeed, some fans are talking as if the Orange are UVa's next opponent. Hopefully the team is ready for what I expect to be a tough contest tonight.
The Hurricanes (14-13, 5-9) have won three of four games (Florida State, Notre Dame, BC, loss to Virginia Tech) and have a win over North Carolina to their name and have lost a host of close games this season to quality teams, including Syracuse (twice), Pittsburgh (OT loss), George Washington (OT loss), N.C. State, and Maryland. Miami employs zone defenses this year that have helped keep coach Jim Larranaga's team in close games. It usually keeps opponent's scores low.
Miami went 27-6 last year overall, won the ACC regular season and tournament titles, and made a run to the Sweet 16 before losing to Marquette. That team was loaded with experienced seniors and that entire starting lineup has not been on the floor this season. What Larranaga has been able to do with a revamped starting lineup is quite impressive. This team is led on offense by guard Rion Brown, a sixth man a year ago who has upped his scoring average from 6.4 points in 2012-13 to 15 ppg this season. Brown also grabs 6.3 rebounds per game and can shoot from the 3-point line (34.4 percent) and really well from the stripe (80 percent). Guard Garrius Adams is second on the team at 10.2 ppg, the only other Hurricane scoring in double figures. He is a solid rebounder for being a guard as well, snatching 4.7 per game off the glass. Donnavan Kirk (a transfer who started his career with Miami, went to DePaul, now is ending it back at Miami) puts in 8.5 ppg and grabs 5.4 rpg. He also blocks 1.7 shots per game. Despite not having a ton of scoring on the team, Miami goes pretty deep, with three more players -- Manu Lecomte, James Kelly, and Davon Reed -- averaging more than six ppg.
As a team, the Hurricanes score just 61.7 pgg (341st in the nation), grab 35.2 rebounds per game (161st), make 10.7 assists per game (310th), and shoot 41.4 percent from the field (41.4). They give up 59.1 ppg (fourth in the ACC), hit 68.2 percent of their free throws (eighth), and make 33.5 percent of their 3s (11th). The numbers are certainly not great for the Hurricanes but the Cavaliers cannot take them lightly. Looking ahead to Syracuse would be a big mistake. Miami is dangerous because it wants an ugly game. It wants to play a slow game like UVa and it wants to keep scores low. As a result, closer games are the norm with the 'Canes so UVa needs to be ready because falling asleep could mean finding itself in a dogfight near the end of the game, something you don't want with any team. At that point, said team has belief it can win, and you can throw out which team is the better, because it just comes down to executing in those final minutes.
This is a game that of course UVa should win but it needs to avoid the pitfalls that come with so many teams when they have big matchups looming. Larranaga is a quality coach with a young team that has gotten better as the year has progressed and the Wahoos need to take the 'Canes seriously.
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