The Miami basketball team plays their first home game in two weeks when they host Duke on Saturday. A win would give the Hurricanes a signature victory they will need when the NCAA Tournament committee meets next month and in March.
The Miami basketball team enters their Saturday night primetime ESPN game against Duke with losses in two straight and three of the last four to the Blue Devils. The Hurricanes last win over Duke was during a breakout performance by then-freshman guard Bruce Brown in 2017. Brown had 25 points in a 55-50 Miami victory.
As has been the norm under Jim Larranaga Miami is once again led by perimeter scorers. Junior Chris Lykes leads three Miami guards who average over 15 points per game with an average of 15.7. According to Miami head coach Jim Larranaga, the Hurricanes are the only team in the country with three guards averaging over 15 PPG.
Redshirt junior Kameron McGusty is averaging 15.2 PPG and senior Dejan Vasiljevic is at 15.1 PPG. Vasiljevic leads the ACC with a 46.7 three-point percentage. There is more to his game than cherry-picking behind the arc. Vasiljevic has made all 22 of his free throw attempts but does not have enough attempts to qualify to lead the ACC.
The Miami basketball team is second in the ACC with a 38.9 three-point field goal percentage. The Hurricanes are going to need the three-points to drop as they did in their last home game against Coppin State. Miami made a school-record 18 against the Eagles.
"GAME 13 | JAN. 4, 2020 • 8 P.M. ET • CORAL GABLES, FLA.#2 Duke Blue Devils (12-1, 2-0 ACC)Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski (Army West Point, 1969)Record at DU: 1,071-286 (40th season), Career Record: 1,144-345 (45th season)Miami Hurricanes (9-3, 1-1 ACC)Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga (Providence, 1971)Record at UM: 184-100 (ninth season), Career Record: 654-434 (36th season)Courtesy of HurricaneSports.Com"
Larranaga credited the Blue Devils as having one of their better defensive teams under Mike Krzyzewski. Duke is 66th nationally allowing opponents to shoot just 29.9 percent from beyond the arc. Lykes, McGusty and Vasiljevic are going to have to be able to penetrate if the threes are not falling.
"SERIES HISTORYAll-Time: 7-20 (6-20 since rebirth) | Home: 5-8 | Away: 2-10 | Neutral: 0-2 | Coach L: 5-6 (5-5 at Miami)Last Meeting: 87-57 road loss (March 2, 2019) | First Meeting: 71-69 home win (Dec. 21, 1969)"
Miami attempts for their first win over Duke in nearly three years. The Hurricanes have been competitive with the Blue Devils under Larranaga. Miami is 5-5 against Duke under Coach L. The Hurricanes won four of their first six meetings against the Blue Devils under Larranaga before Duke rallied to win three of the last four.
Impressive practice at Miami today. Jim Larranaga emphasizes The Ten Commitments, and every player can repeat them on command. Duke @ Miami, Saturday, 8pm, ESPN. @CanesHoops @espn @DukeMBB pic.twitter.com/fZDRvDW1zC
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) January 3, 2020
"BROADCAST INFORMATIONESPN • Play-by-Play: Dan Shulman • Color: Jay Bilas • Reporter: Holly Rowe | Streaming: WatchESPNWQAM 560 AM • Joe Zagacki • Danny Rabinowitz | WQAM.Radio.comWMYM 990 AM • Broderick Zerpa • Lorenzo Berry • Daniel Ramirez | Tunein.Com DeportesWVUM 90.5 FM • Philip Capuzzi • Josh White | WVUM.org"
Saturday night’s game is one of the biggest of the season for Miami and only one of two definitively scheduled to be broadcast by ESPN. The only other Miami game currently scheduled to be on ESPN is the Hurricanes game at Duke on January 21. Several other Miami games are scheduled on one of the ESPN channels.
The one Duke player Miami fans are likely to have an eye in freshman center Vernon Carey jr. Carey is the son of former Miami Hurricanes and Dolphins offensive tackle Vernon Carey senior. Junior leads Duke in scoring, rebounding and blocks averaging 17.9 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 2.2 BPG. He was a heavy Miami recruit but chose Duke.