UNC vs. Miami Preview

North Carolina (12-4, 4-1 ACC) vs. Miami (13-4, 5-1 ACC)
Coral Gables, Fla. — Watsco Center
Tuesday, Jan. 18 –7:00 p.m. ET
ACC Network (Reece Davis, Debbie Antonelli) 

Quotables

“The problems are that they’ve got some guys that are dynamic and talented enough to be able to create offense anytime that they want to, whether it’s for themselves or for their teammates. They can shoot the ball, but their ability 1-on-1, off the bounce, to be able to attack and get to the basket is really good. One of the things that we’ve talked about is how important it is to be able to guard your guy and taking pride and being able to defend your guy without help, but also putting ourselves in positions where we can help to protect the paint.” — UNC head coach Hubert Davis on facing Miami

“[Armando] Bacot is playing at an extremely high level right now and Carolina is really exploiting his ability to score and rebound at both ends. He’s having a sensational year.” – Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga 

“Despite the coaching change, they’re pretty similar. They still race up the court and try to score as quickly as possible. That is something I’ve gotten to play against over the years and Coach L really puts emphasis on, that they go attack the basket in the first five seconds of the shot clock. So, just knowing that they’re big, they like to post up and they like to run the floor, it’s an emphasis that we put on in practice and during film.” – Miami forward Anthony Walker on UNC

Pregame Notes

Bacot Dominating: Armando Bacot has been on a tear. The junior big man has been named the ACC Player of the Week for consecutive weeks — the first Tar Heel to accomplish that feat since Joel Berry back in 2017. Bacot tied his career high in points (29) against Georgia Tech and added 12 rebounds for his seventh consecutive double-double and conference-best 12th for the season.  

Seeing What They’re Made Of: This stretch of games for the Tar Heels is going to be telling of the team’s ability to play well consistently against good teams in tough situations. Not coming out flat against Georgia Tech and taking care of business was a good start. The next three contests, two of which are on the road, may be the most adversity yet for the Tar Heels. Miami is the ACC leader with its 5-1 record in conference play. Wake Forest, while 4-3 in ACC play, is not a team to look past, especially considering the Demon Deacons are a Tobacco Road rival. Virginia Tech is a team that is better than its current record and is capable of knocking the Tar Heels off if taken lightly. 

Hurricane Overview: The Hurricanes, in their 11th season under head coach Jim Larrañaga, have been playing solid basketball. After starting the season 4-3, Miami went on a nine-game winning streak that included wins over Clemson, Wake Forest and Duke. The winning streak was snapped after a loss to Florida State on Tuesday. Miami is ranked No. 82 in the kenpom.com national rankings and No. 84 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Miami is 8-1 at home and has won eight straight at the Watsco Center after dropping its home opener to UCF back on Nov. 13. Miami also has a strong group of veterans, with six players having four or more years of college experience.

Well-Rounded Offense: Miami fares well in many offensive rankings nationally, according to kenpom.com. The Hurricanes rank 21st in adjusted offensive efficiency with a mark of 114.3. Miami has the seventh-lowest turnover percentage at 13.9%. The Hurricanes also shoot the ball from downtown at 35.3%, the 82nd-best mark in the country, and have connected on 53.7% of their 2-point field goals and 74.7% of their free throws, ranking 58th and 66th in each respective stat. 

ACC Standings: The Hurricanes are at the top of the ACC standings with a 5-1 record. They were projected to finish 12th. Miami started off 5-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2012-13 season.  Miami has two of the top-10 scorers in the conference with Kameron McGusty, who is fifth with 18.0 points per game, and Isaiah Wong, who is eighth, averaging 15.9 points per game. Wong was selected to the Preseason All-ACC First-Team. 

Last Time Out: The Hurricanes suffered their first conference defeat in a loss against Florida State. The 64-63 loss not only ended Miami’s win streak but was also the end of an eight-game stretch of scoring more than 65 points. Point guard Charlie Moore provided 20 points while the duo of Wong and McGusty combined for 27 points on 12-24 shooting. 

Wing Masterclass: McGusty and Wong have been crucial for the Hurricanes. Both are averaging more than 15 points per game, thereby making Miami one of four teams in the ACC to have two players scoring at that clip. McGusty is shooting just under 50% from the field and 36.8% from three. The senior has scored 20 or more points on six occasions, including a season-high 29 points against Lipscomb in December. Wong is shooting 41.6% from the field and 37.3% from three. The sophomore has four 20-point outings, his most recent being a 25-point effort against Wake Forest on New Year’s Day. 

Last Meeting: The Tar Heels beat the Hurricanes, 67-65, in Coral Gables last season on an Andrew Platek go-ahead basket with 3.8 seconds remaining. Leaky Black had a career-high 16 points to lead the Tar Heels and Day’Ron Sharpe had a 12-point, 16-rebound double-double. 

Series History: UNC leads the all-time series, 26-8. 

Projected UNC Starters:
1 Leaky Black (Sr., 6-8 200) – 3.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg
2 Caleb Love (So., 6-4, 195) – 15.5 ppg, 3.4 apg
4 R.J. Davis (So., 6-0, 175) – 13.4 ppg, 3.8 apg
5 Armando Bacot (Jr., 6-10, 240) – 17.4 ppg, 11.3 rpg
45 Brady Manek (Gr. 6-9, 230) – 12.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg 

Projected Miami Starters:
2 Isaiah Wong (So., 6-3, 185) – 15.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg
3 Charlie Moore (Sr., 5-11, 180) – 12.8 ppg, 3.9 apg
11 Jordan Miller (Jr., 6-7, 195) – 9.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg
21 Sam Waardenburg  (Jr., 6-10, 225) – 7.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg
23 Kameron McGusty (Sr., 6-5, 190) – 18.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg

UNC Info
Schedule/Results
Roster & Bios
Stats

Miami Info
Schedule
Roster & Bios
Stats