The Miami Men’s Basketball team started off their season strong. With a convincing win over ranked Florida, the team jumped out to the earliest they have ever been ranked in a season. With a few losses, including a hard-fought overtime bout with third-ranked Virginia, the Canes have fallen from the rankings.
The Canes look to rebound in a key match up against No. 4 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium Tuesday night. This will be Miami’s first ACC road game of the season.
Miami is 2-2 against Duke since Coach Jim Larrañaga took over in the 2011-12 season. Overall, the Canes are 4-17 in the all-time against Duke. The match up goes all the way back to the 1962-63 season.
This season, Duke is 14-1 with a 87-75 loss to North Carolina State in their previous game on Sunday. Miami is a stout 11-4 with their last loss against Virginia on Jan. 3.
Solid play from redshirt junior guard Angel Rodriguez will be essential if the ‘Canes hope to upset another opponent.
In the Canes’ two games against Top 10 ranked teams, No. 3 Virginia and No. 8/7 Florida, Rodriguez averaged 24.5 points and 5.0 assists.
At Florida, he scored 22 of his 24 points in the last nine minutes and drained five three-point shots in the second half, leading the Canes to victory. He scored 17 points in the second half against the Cavaliers. Rodriguez made three important free throws with 0.9 seconds left in regulation sending the game to overtime.
Since joining the ACC, Miami is 3-7 in ACC road openers. Last season’s ACC road opener ended in a loss to No. 2 Syracuse by only five points.
The Canes have a tough road to home in the upcoming games. After Duke, Miami will face No. 12 Notre Dame Saturday. The Canes will face North Carolina State on Jan. 22, and then Syracuse on Jan. 24.
You can watch the game at 9 PM Eastern on ESPN2 – WVUM 90.5 FM will also have live streaming coverage.