Live Game Thread and Preview: Miami Basketball Vs. La Salle
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 2023
WHERE: Coral Gables, FL, Watsco Center
TIME/TV: Noon EST/CW Network
LIVE AUDIO: 560 WQAM`
MIAMI: Official Website | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
LA SALLE: Official Website | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
LINE: MIA -14.5
No. 24 Miami (8-2, 1-0 ACC) will aim to bounce back from a deflating 90-63 loss to Colorado.
La Salle (8-2, 0-0) defeated Lafayette 67-51 last time on the court.
Series History
This will be the 19th overall meeting between the Hurricanes and the Explorers, with the series split evenly, 9-9. However, 13 of the 18 meetings occurred before the program’s rebirth in 1985. Miami has won five straight games against the Explorers, all of which have come during Coach Jim Larrañaga’s tenure.
The last time the two teams met, Miami recorded a dominant, 85-49, victory over the Explorers in Fullerton, Calif., as part of the Wooden Legacy. Five Hurricanes scored in double-figures, and Miami shot 54 percent from the field in the game.
Rankings
Miami maintained its top-15 ranking for the fifth straight week, checking in at No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
Per Stats Perform, there are only four seasons in which the Hurricanes have appeared in the Top 15 in more consecutive weeks (1959-60, 2012-13, 2015-16, 2017-18).
Miami has now appeared in the polls for 20 straight weeks, breaking the program record for consecutive appearances in the AP Poll (17) and Coaches Poll (18) set in 2015-16.
Last Game
The Hurricanes fell short to the Colorado Buffaloes, 63-90, Sunday afternoon at the Barclays Center as part of the NABC Brooklyn Showcase.
Three Hurricanes scored in double-figures, paced by junior guard Matthew Cleveland, who poured in 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Miami could not contain Colorado’s red-hot offense, which shot 58.7 percent from the field and totaled 28 assists on 37 made field goals.
Notable Miami Statistics
Miami was a perfect 7-0 last season in games following a loss. The Hurricanes have not lost back-to-back games since Feb. 2-5, 2022. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Miami is 16-1 in the next game after a loss.
Junior guard Cleveland continues to shine in his first season with the Hurricanes, averaging 15 points and 4.7 rebounds per game this year. Cleveland is the only Hurricane shooting better than 60 percent from the field (.638) team in steals per game (1.7). Cleveland sits 25th in the nation (second in the ACC) in field goal percentage at 63.8.
Over the last two games, freshman Kyshawn George has shown his potential at The U. The guard is averaging 10.5 points and shooting 60 percent from the field in his last two outings. Even more impressive, he is knocking down 71.4 percent (5-of-7) of his shots from beyond the arc.
Four Hurricanes are averaging double-figures this season – Cleveland, Norchad Omier, Nijel Pack, and Wooga Poplar.
Miami is shooting 42.3% from three this year while holding opponents to a 26.5 3-point field goal percentage. The Hurricanes’ three-point percentage differential of 15.8% is the highest in Division I.
Guard Poplar currently ranks fourth in the nation and second in the ACC in 3-point field goal percentage with a .523 shooting clip from beyond the arc.
Forward Omier recorded his fourth double-double of the season against LIU, totaling 17 points and 13 rebounds. Omier currently ranks 24th in the nation (third in the ACC) in double-doubles this season.
The Hurricanes are 19-1 (.950) when Omier has a double-double since he joined the team (2022-23), which is the best mark for any D-I team when a single player has a double-double in that span (min. 12 double-doubles), per Stats Perform.
Poplar (.523) and Bensley Joseph (.464) are combining to shoot 50 percent from three this season, tied for the third highest by any major-conference duo (min. 25 attempts).
The Opponent
Notable La Salle Statistics
The Explorers enter Sunday’s contest with an 8-2 overall record and are coming off a 67-51 victory over Lafayette. One of La Salle’s two losses was a triple overtime setback, 106-99, against Temple on Nov. 29. The other was to a top-10 Duke team, a 95-66 defeat in Durham, N.C.
Four Explorers are averaging double-digits this season, paced by Khalil Brantley, who is scoring 16.1 points per game. La Salle is led on the boards by Rokas Jocius at 6.4 rebounds per contest.
Redshirt sophomore Andres Marrero registered a career-high 20 points in a 67-51 win over Lafayette, marking the second straight game in which he had set a new career mark for points in a game.
The Venezuelan knocked down five three-pointers, one-third of the team’s season-best 15 three-point field goals.
Nearly 70 percent (68.2%) of La Salle’s made field goals were three-pointers against the Leopards, the highest ratio of three-pointers/field goals made in at least 13 seasons.
Senior Jhamir Brickus (14 points) connected on four three-pointers, and junior Daeshon Shepherd (11 points) hit three more from downtown. Brickus also added a team-best eight assists and seven rebounds.
La Salle is undefeated in the month of December (3-0), stands a perfect 5-0 in games played in the afternoon, and is 4-0 in games played on Saturday this season.
After his career games last week, Marrero was named Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week, averaging 19.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and shooting 50.0% from three-point range in two wins.
Miami Athletics and La Salle Athletics Contributed to this report
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