The fans of the University of Miami men"s basketball team would probably prefer to forget the recent history between their Hurricanes and the No. 4 Blue Devils (13-0, 3-0 in the ACC).
The two teams have met only five times, and although the Hurricanes won the opening matchup way back in 1962, since then they are 0-4 against Duke. These squads last met Dec. 10, 1988, when Danny Ferry set Duke"s single-game scoring record by draining 58 points and led the Blue Devils to a 117-102 road victory.
The era of humiliation is quickly evaporating at Miami, however. After months of hearing that their men"s basketball program would taint the talent pool of the ACC, and after writers picked the "Canes to finish dead last in the conference, the Hurricanes (12-3, 3-1 in the ACC) are silencing their critics. Head coach Frank Haith has become an early favorite for ACC Coach of the Year--his team has won 11 of its last 12 games following early back-to-back losses against South Carolina State and Xavier.
After losing their ACC opener against Georgia Tech, the Hurricanes have racked up conference wins against N.C. State, Virginia and Florida State.
'We"re excited about this trip to Florida,' junior J.J. Redick said. 'Miami is having a great year, and it"s going to be a big challenge and a big test for this team, so we"re excited about it.'
Miami is riding the hot hand of sophomore guard Guillermo Diaz. Diaz is averaging a league-high 24.5 points per game in conference play, and is coming off a dramatic 19-point performance against Florida State Saturday night. With 7.3 seconds remaining and his team trailing by one, Diaz slashed right into the heart of the Seminole defense. The sophomore eluded four Florida State defenders en route to sinking the game-winning basket.
Diaz is joined in the backcourt by Robert Hite, who trails Redick as the conference"s second leading scorer at 19.0 points per game. Diaz, Hite and sophomore guard Anthony Harris have combined to average 49.0 points per game, 66.8 percent of their team"s offense.
'[The Hurricanes] have a great perimeter in Hite and Diaz,' Redick said. 'Those two kids are as good as any perimeter in our league. So we know it"s going to start with them, and we really have to weather whatever run they"re going to make. Their crowd is going to be jumping because it"s a sellout.'
Although the matchups between the two talented backcourts will grab most of the attention Wednesday, Miami"s big men will also play a key role. Miami is second in the conference in rebounding because of the emergence of Anthony King, who is fourth in the ACC with 8.9 rebounds per game. King will look to take advantage of a Duke frontcourt that yielded eight offensive rebounds to Virginia forward Gary Forbes in its 88-60 victory Sunday.
The Hurricanes" trio of William Frisby, Gary Hamilton and King have combined to record 22.8 rebounds per game. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski expects his team to improve its post play as junior Shavlik Randolph begins to see increased minutes this week.
'I didn"t know when I was going to use him or how,' Krzyzewski said after the Virginia game. 'I thought his five minutes were really good. They stayed small most of the game and in the second half, so I didn"t bring him back in, but I"ll use him more and more now. Hopefully in the next few weeks, he"ll be able to get back to being closer to 100 percent.'
The Blue Devils will look to jump out to an early lead in order to silence the raucous Miami fans who will come in to witness the Hurricanes" biggest home game to date. The Blue Devils have had to overcome first-half deficits in each of their last six games. This season Duke has been a much better team in the second half, where they have shot 9.8 percent higher from the floor, 12.5 percent higher from behind the arc and have held down their opponents" field goal percentage by 4.1 percent.
'We"re trying to find ways to win games, and we"re playing tough,' Redick said. 'But, most importantly, we need to get better, and that comes with starting games off better.' Senior Daniel Ewing agreed that a slow start could spell disaster in Coral Gables, Fla. 'That"s not the way we want it to go, but so far we"ve had slow starts and strong finishes,' Ewing said. 'Fortunately, we"re a good enough team and we"re playing good enough defense, and when it counts, we"re making plays.'
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