The Miami basketball team hosts 11-4 Pittsburgh on Sunday evening at the Watsco Center. The Hurricanes are 9-5 and coming off of a 74-58 loss at Louisville in a game much closer than the final score.
The ACC basketball standings are likely to be tight all season. The Miami basketball team has to take care of their homecourt to improve on their 1-3 ACC record and continue to pad their resume to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. Miami is 0-2 at home and 1-1 on the road in the ACC in 2019-20.
The Hurricanes earned an impressive 73-68 victory at Clemson on New Years’s Eve. Losses to Louisville in the season opener and on Tuesday night and to Duke last Saturday at the Watsco Center were to the two best teams in the ACC. The Hurricanes have to win the toss-up games to move up in the ACC Standings.
Pittsburgh travels to Coral Gables with an 11-4 overall record and is 2-2, sixth in the ACC. The Panthers have impressive conference wins over Florida State to begin the season and at North Carolina on Wednesday. Pittsburgh’s losses were to Louisville and a questionable four-point home loss to Wake Forest last Saturday.
Pittsburgh is led by former Duke star and assistant and Virginia Commonwealth and Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel. In his second season at Pittsburgh, the ACC veteran has done more than a capable job turning around what was a dire Panthers basketball program. Capel is 25-33 in the Steel City.
"Game Information:GAME 15 | JAN. 12, 2020 • 6 P.M. ET • CORAL GABLES, FLA.Pittsburgh Panthers (11-4, 2-2 ACC)Head Coach: Jeff Capel (Duke, 1997)Record at UP: 25-23 (second season), Career Record: 187-133 (11th season)Miami Hurricanes (9-5, 1-3 ACC)Head Coach: Jim Larrañaga (Providence, 1971)Record at UM: 184-102 (ninth season), Career Record: 654-436 (36th season)Information courtesy of HurricaneSports.Com"
The ESPN Basketball Power Index gives the Miami basketball team a 67.3 percent chance to defeat Pittsburgh. Miami needs to win games against middle of the pack teams in the ACC at home. The Hurricanes are 4-2 at the Watsco Center this season and 0-2 at home in the ACC. The home ACC games get easier.
Hosting Louisville and Duke to begin conference play was a tough start to the ACC Schedule. According to head coach Jim Larranaga on Hurricane Hotline this week Miami is only one of three ACC teams with three true road victories this season. Miami has won at Central Florida, Illinois and Clemson this season.
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"SERIES HISTORYAll-Time: 22-18 (15-14 since rebirth) | Home: 13-7 | Away: 8-10 | Neutral: 1-1 | Coach L: 6-2 (6-1 at Miami)Streak: Won 6 | Last Meeting: 76-63 home win (3/5/19) | First Meeting: 43-40 road win (12/26/47)BROADCAST INFORMATIONACC Network • Play-by-Play: Mike Monaco • Color: Malcolm Huckaby • WatchESPNWQAM 560 AM • Joe Zagacki • Danny Rabinowitz | WQAM.Radio.comWMYM 990 AM • Broderick Zerpa • Jose Martinez • Lorenzo Berry • Daniel Ramirez | TuneIn.Com/AppWVUM 90.5 FM • Cal Friedman • Josh White | WVUM.org"
Pittsburgh is the fifth most common opponent of the Miami basketball program. The Hurricanes and Panthers have played 37 times. Miami enters Saturday’s nights game with a six-game winning streak against Pittsburgh. Most of the ACC have beaten the Panthers who have been down over the past several seasons prior to this year.
Pittsburgh has a balanced offense led by sophomore guards Trey McGowens and Xavier Johnson. Four Panthers average in double figures. Johnson lives up to McGowens’ first name making 41 percent of his three-point attempts. Miami matches up much better with Pittsburgh’s guard-oriented attack than the size of Louisville.