No. 3 Virginia at Miami, 5:30 p.m. ESPN2
Virginia received its biggest challenge of the year so far Tuesday but ended up topping a hot-shooting Davidson team, 83-72. Justin Anderson continued to amaze from 3-point land, hitting 4 of 6. Anthony Gill was the story of the game, though, recorded 25 points and 13 rebounds on 11 of 16 shooting. Darion Atkins also had a double-double (13 and 10) and he came off the bench. Steady Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points. The Cavaliers finished the non-conference schedule 12-0 and were really only challenged a handful of times -- by Davidson, VCU, George Washington, and La Salle in the second half.
ACC play begins Saturday and Virginia travels to face Miami in the opener. Let's take a closer look at the Hurricanes.
Record: 10-3
Scorers in double figures: junior guard Sheldon McClellan (15.7), junior guard Angel Rodriguez (13.6), and sophomore guard Manu Lecomte
Leading rebounders: Junior center Tonye Jekiri (9.3), McClellan (5.5), and freshman guard Deandre Burnett (3.7)
Assist leaders: Rodriguez (4.2) and McClellan (2.2)
Notable: Burnett is a good-looking freshman who also pours in 9.3 ppg. Lecomte is the team's best 3-point shooter at 44.1 percent. Jekiri puts in 7.4 ppg in addition to his work on the boards. Miami goes deep, with 10 players averaging double figure minutes.
Best win: Miami announced its arrival on the national scene this season by winning at then-No. 8
Florida, 69-67, on Nov. 17 in only the second game of the year.
Other wins: Howard, Drexel, Akron, Charlotte (twice), South Alabama, Illinois, Savannah State, College of Charleston
Best loss: All three losses have actually been by double digits but the best team Miami has lost to was Providence on a neutral floor.
Worst loss: Easily it is the 72-44 home beatdown the Hurricanes received Dec. 17 against Eastern Kentucky.
Other losses: Green Bay at home
What Miami does well: Miami is not super special in any one category, but good in a lot of different ones, ranking at least 171st in the country in points, rebounds, and assists per game and field-goal percentage. The 'Canes are tied for 47th in points allowed per game (59.7). Miami is tied for 91st in free-throw shooting at 71.2 percent. Jim Larranaga is a very solid coach, of course coming from George Mason-to-the-Final-Four fame and the 'Canes also had a very good team under him two years ago.
What Miami doesn't do well: Like I said, Miami does lots of things pretty good and thus, not many things poorly. But Miami does rank second-to-last in the ACC in rebounding margin.
Why Virginia should not be worried: Virginia got the wake-up call it needed against Davidson Tuesday. That straightened out the Wahoos and showed them they weren't invincible after looking like it against Harvard. Miami started out the year hot with a victory over Florida, but the Gators have proven to not be a top-10 team. After starting 8-0, Miami is just 2-3 since, with all of those losses coming by more than 10 points and two of them being to teams that it should have beaten. The 'Hoos will dominate the glass, getting plenty of inside looks and putbacks. The top two scorers for Miami (McClellan and Rodriguez) are transfers (Texas and Kansas State, respectively), so chemistry could still be an issue for Miami since it is fairly early in the season. Larranaga has had a tough time scoring against Virginia in his tenure with the 'Canes, scoring 51, 54, and 40 points in the three meetings.
Why Virginia should be worried: Larranaga will have his guys ready to play and Miami will be fired up for the No. 3 team to come to its place to kick off conference play. It is an opportunity for the Hurricanes to pick up another key win for the NCAA tournament resume. Miami only shoots about 37 percent from 3, but a good day from beyond the arc could be the equalizer Miami needs. Virginia is ripe for a loss at 12-0 and Davidson gave it a nice try Tuesday. Larranaga might be able to implement some of what Davidson did into his plan to strengthen the Hurricanes' chances of pulling off the upset.
A few weeks ago, I was more worried about this game. Now, it looks like Virginia certainly has the edge with Miami cooling off considerably. The 'Canes have not played the schedule Virginia has. As I said, Larranaga has had an undoubtedly tough time getting his team to produce points against Tony Bennett's UVa squads, but if the Hurricanes can find a way to score some points and get this game into the high 60s, the Cavs have proven to have some offensive firepower in the reservoir should they need it, as they did in some games this year against VCU, Maryland, and Davidson.
Virginia received its biggest challenge of the year so far Tuesday but ended up topping a hot-shooting Davidson team, 83-72. Justin Anderson continued to amaze from 3-point land, hitting 4 of 6. Anthony Gill was the story of the game, though, recorded 25 points and 13 rebounds on 11 of 16 shooting. Darion Atkins also had a double-double (13 and 10) and he came off the bench. Steady Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points. The Cavaliers finished the non-conference schedule 12-0 and were really only challenged a handful of times -- by Davidson, VCU, George Washington, and La Salle in the second half.
ACC play begins Saturday and Virginia travels to face Miami in the opener. Let's take a closer look at the Hurricanes.
Record: 10-3
Scorers in double figures: junior guard Sheldon McClellan (15.7), junior guard Angel Rodriguez (13.6), and sophomore guard Manu Lecomte
Leading rebounders: Junior center Tonye Jekiri (9.3), McClellan (5.5), and freshman guard Deandre Burnett (3.7)
Assist leaders: Rodriguez (4.2) and McClellan (2.2)
Notable: Burnett is a good-looking freshman who also pours in 9.3 ppg. Lecomte is the team's best 3-point shooter at 44.1 percent. Jekiri puts in 7.4 ppg in addition to his work on the boards. Miami goes deep, with 10 players averaging double figure minutes.
Best win: Miami announced its arrival on the national scene this season by winning at then-No. 8
Other wins: Howard, Drexel, Akron, Charlotte (twice), South Alabama, Illinois, Savannah State, College of Charleston
Best loss: All three losses have actually been by double digits but the best team Miami has lost to was Providence on a neutral floor.
Worst loss: Easily it is the 72-44 home beatdown the Hurricanes received Dec. 17 against Eastern Kentucky.
Other losses: Green Bay at home
What Miami does well: Miami is not super special in any one category, but good in a lot of different ones, ranking at least 171st in the country in points, rebounds, and assists per game and field-goal percentage. The 'Canes are tied for 47th in points allowed per game (59.7). Miami is tied for 91st in free-throw shooting at 71.2 percent. Jim Larranaga is a very solid coach, of course coming from George Mason-to-the-Final-Four fame and the 'Canes also had a very good team under him two years ago.
What Miami doesn't do well: Like I said, Miami does lots of things pretty good and thus, not many things poorly. But Miami does rank second-to-last in the ACC in rebounding margin.
Why Virginia should not be worried: Virginia got the wake-up call it needed against Davidson Tuesday. That straightened out the Wahoos and showed them they weren't invincible after looking like it against Harvard. Miami started out the year hot with a victory over Florida, but the Gators have proven to not be a top-10 team. After starting 8-0, Miami is just 2-3 since, with all of those losses coming by more than 10 points and two of them being to teams that it should have beaten. The 'Hoos will dominate the glass, getting plenty of inside looks and putbacks. The top two scorers for Miami (McClellan and Rodriguez) are transfers (Texas and Kansas State, respectively), so chemistry could still be an issue for Miami since it is fairly early in the season. Larranaga has had a tough time scoring against Virginia in his tenure with the 'Canes, scoring 51, 54, and 40 points in the three meetings.
Why Virginia should be worried: Larranaga will have his guys ready to play and Miami will be fired up for the No. 3 team to come to its place to kick off conference play. It is an opportunity for the Hurricanes to pick up another key win for the NCAA tournament resume. Miami only shoots about 37 percent from 3, but a good day from beyond the arc could be the equalizer Miami needs. Virginia is ripe for a loss at 12-0 and Davidson gave it a nice try Tuesday. Larranaga might be able to implement some of what Davidson did into his plan to strengthen the Hurricanes' chances of pulling off the upset.
A few weeks ago, I was more worried about this game. Now, it looks like Virginia certainly has the edge with Miami cooling off considerably. The 'Canes have not played the schedule Virginia has. As I said, Larranaga has had an undoubtedly tough time getting his team to produce points against Tony Bennett's UVa squads, but if the Hurricanes can find a way to score some points and get this game into the high 60s, the Cavs have proven to have some offensive firepower in the reservoir should they need it, as they did in some games this year against VCU, Maryland, and Davidson.
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