Miami basketball goes for two straight home wins vs Clemson Wednesday
The Miami basketball team will host Clemson on Wednesday night. The Hurricanes are coming off an overtime loss at North Carolina on Saturday.
Despite the 88-85 loss in Chapel Hill, the Miami Basketball team played one of its best games on the year against the Tar Heels. The Hurricanes held the lead late in regulation and late in overtime before falling by three.
Miami was coming off of their best defensive performance of the year in a 62-47 victory over Notre Dame at the Watsco Center last Wednesday night. The Hurricanes held the Fighting Irish to 32.1 percent from the field and 4-28 on three-point attempts.
North Carolina was a different story. Both offenses were on fire in the second half. The teams combined for 93 second-half points led by the point guards. The Tar Heels Coby White scored 33 points and had six assists. Chris Lykes nearly matched him for Miami. Lykes finished one point off his career high with 27.
Clemson travels to Coral Gables one of the hottest teams in the ACC. The Tigers have won four in a row to improve to 5-5 in the ACC and 15-8 overall. The winning streak has put Clemson back into consideration for the NCAA Tournament. The Bracket Matrix currently has the Tigers as an 11 seed.
Clemson is led by star guard Marcquise Reed. The Senior from Landover, Maryland is averaging 18.9 points per game, 5.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Senior forward Elijah Thomas is also a player to watch. The 40th ranked recruit in the class of 2015, Thomas is averaging 12.9 PPG, 7.9 RPG and shooting 65.7 percent from the floor.
Clemson is one of the best defensive teams in the ACC and the country. They are in the top five in most defensive categories in the ACC and top 20 nationally in a half dozen defensive categories.
The Miami basketball team has played much better over the last three games. They only have the win over Notre Dame to show for it. The Hurricanes lost at Virginia before defeating the Fighting Irish.
"Game InformationGAME 24 • FEB. 13, 2019 • 7 P.M. • CORAL GABLES, FLA., Watsco Center (7,972)CLEMSON TIGERS (15-8, 5-5 ACC)Head Coach: Brad Brownell (DePauw, ‘91)Record at CU: 164-121 (9th season), Career Record: 331-206 (17th season)MIAMI HURRICANES (10-13, 2-9 ACC)Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga (Providence, ‘71)Record at UM: 171-92 (8th season), Career Record: 641-426 (35th season)Information Courtesy of HurricaneSports.Com"
Clemson Coach Brad Brownell and Miami’s Jim Larranaga have similar backgrounds. Before coaching in the ACC both coached in the Colonial Athletic Association (Brownell and UNC-Wilmington and Larranaga at George Mason) and at Mid-Majors in Ohio (Brownell at Wright State and Larranaga at Bowling Green).
The Hurricanes will appear on ESPN2 for the second straight game. Saturday’s thriller with North Carolina was also on the deuce. Canes have not appeared on the Ocho this season.
"Television: ESPN2; Online: WatchESPNPlay-by-Play: Mike Couzens, Color: Jordan CornetteRadio: WQAM 560-AM (PxP: Joe Zagacki)Satellite Radio: Sirius 135, XM 194, XM Internet 956Series vs. Clemson: Clemson leads, 14-11Home: 7-3 | Road: 2-8 | Neutral: 2-3"
The game against Clemson begins a stretch of four straight games for the Miami basketball team against unranked opponents. They are catching Clemson at a tough time. The Tigers began the ACC with five losses in the first six games and now have the four-game winning streak.
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After Clemson, Miami will travel to Boston College and Wake Forest and host Georgia Tech in between to close out February.