DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 2024
WHERE: Coral Gables, FL, Watsco Center
TIME/TV: 7:00 EST/ACC Network
LIVE AUDIO: 560 WQAM
MIAMI: Official Website | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
FLORIDA STATE: Official Website | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
LINE: MIAMI -6.5
Miami (12-4, 3-2 ACC) defeated Virginia Tech 75-71 on the road in its last game.
Florida State (10-6, 4-1 ACC) defeated Notre Dame 67-58 in its last contest.
Series History
Miami returns to the Watsco Center on Wednesday to host in-state rival Florida State for the first of two meetings this season.
The all-time series between Miami and Florida State dates back to before the program rebirth, with the first game between the two schools occurring in 1950. Overall, Florida State is leading the series 54-37, but Miami holds a 27-17 advantage when playing at home. This is the 92nd meeting between Miami and FSU, the most games in any series in Miami program history.
The teams met twice in 2022-23, with each school coming away with a victory. The last meeting came on Feb. 25, 2023, an upset win for Florida State in Coral Gables. The Seminoles came back from down 25 to defeat the Hurricanes 85-84 on a last-second 3-pointer by Matthew Cleveland (yes, the Matthew Cleveland who now plays for the Hurricanes).
It’s been six years since Miami last defeated Florida State in the Watsco Center (W, 80-74, 1/7/18).
Last Game
Miami recorded its first true road win on Saturday, defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies, 75-71, in Cassell Coliseum.
The game featured eight ties and ten lead changes and was a single-digit game for the second half. Ultimately, Miami used a 65 percent second-half shooting effort to take the victory and move to 3-2 in ACC play.
Notable Miami Statistics
Nijel Pack has found his rhythm from 3-point range, shooting 51.6 percent (16-of-31) over the last seven games, with just one game under 50 percent.
Conversely, in the season’s first seven games, Pack was 37.8 percent (14-of-37) from distance with five games under 50 percent. When Pack shoots above 50 percent from 3-point range, the Hurricanes are 6-2, with the only losses coming to Colorado and Wake Forest.
Pack is just 22 points away from 1,500 career points, which will make him one of 77 active Division I players to eclipse the 1,500-point mark. When he reaches the milestone, Miami will be one of 13 teams with two active 1,500-point scorers, as Norchad Omier sits at 1,558 career points.
Junior Cleveland eclipsed the 1,000-career point mark Saturday against Virginia Tech, pouring in 21 points to bring his career total to 1,010. Miami is one of 39 Division I teams with three 1,000-point scorers on the roster. However, only 14 of the 39 (Miami included) have a true junior as one of the scorers.
Only 31 Division I players are averaging 15.0 or more points and shooting 55 percent from the field this season, and two of them play for Miami – Omier (17.3 ppg, .619 FG%) and Cleveland (16.4 ppg, .560 FG%). Miami is the only school with two players recording those numbers. Furthermore, Cleveland and Omier are the only ACC players with those stats.
Since the calendar flipped to 2024, Cleveland has averaged 20.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Cleveland has scored in double-figures in 15 of 16 games and sits second on the team, scoring at 16.4.
Cleveland has been dominant in ACC play through five conference games, averaging 19.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in league play. In conference games, only Cleveland ranks in the top ten in the ACC in five categories: scoring (19.4 – 2nd), field goal percentage (58 percent – 5th), steals (2 – 3rd), and minutes played (37.6 – 1st).
The Hurricanes are 21-2 (.913) when Omier has a double-double since he joined the team (2022-23).
Omier is currently one of three ACC players (Kyle Filipowski & Quinten Post) in the top 10 in the conference in scoring (eighth) and rebounding (third).
The forward is one of four Division I players to average 17.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and shoot 60 percent from the field this season (Zach Edey, Purdue; Hunter Dickinson, Kansas; Joel Soriano, St. John’s).
The Opponent
Notable Florida State Statistics
The Seminoles enter Wednesday’s contest on a four-game win streak, most recently defeating Notre Dame, 67-58.
Three Seminoles are averaging double-figures this season, paced by Jamir Watkins at 13 points per game. Watkins enters Wednesday’s game against Miami, looking to become the first player in Florida State history to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals.
Through the first 16 games of the season, he is averaging a team-leading 13.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.6 steals. Watkins is the only ACC player leading his team in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals.
Junior Jalen Warley enters Wednesday’s game against Miami with 99 career steals in the first 79 games of his career. He averages 1.3 steals per game and needs just one steal to reach 100 for his career. Warley has ten steals in four career games against Miami, including three in two games between the teams during the 2022-23 season.
Florida State enters Wednesday’s game at Miami ranked second in the ACC in steals with 147 and a 9.2 steals per-game average. The Seminoles totaled ten steals in their victory over Wake Forest and nine on the road in their win over Maimi.
Florida State averages 8.5 steals per game (34 total steals) during their current four-game ACC winning streak. The Seminoles have earned 10 or more steals in six different games and totaled a season-high 17 steals in their win over No. 18 Colorado in the championship game of the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach on November 21.
Darin Green is ranked fifth in the ACC with 42 3-point field goals made, eighth in the ACC in 3-point field goal percentage (.408), and seventh in the ACC with a 2.63 3-point field goals made per game average. He has made multiple 3-point shots in each of the last eight games and has made numerous 3-point shots in 14 of Florida State’s 16 games this season.
Miami Athletics and Florida State Athletics Contributed to this report
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