Hurricanes Face Gators In Final Game Of AdvoCare Invitational
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KISSIMMEE (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – Despite the relatively close distance, the University of Miami and University of Florida have not played each other very often over the past few decades.
Florida and Miami have only faced off six times since 1991 and do not have any more upcoming meetings scheduled, so fate had to play a role in getting the schools to face each other in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1986-88.
The Hurricanes aim to continue their recent domination in the series Sunday when they meet the Gators in the third-place game of the AdvoCare Invitational at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Miami ended Florida's 33-game home winning streak in 2014 during Billy Donovan's final season at the helm and held the Gators to 1-of-12 beyond the arc last season en route to a 66-55 victory.
Those two wins helped coach Jim Larranaga move to 2-1 all-time against Florida (2-0 with the Hurricanes), although the one defeat came the eventual national champions during George Mason's unlikely Final Four run in 2006.
Miami improved to 4-0 for the third straight season following Thursday's 14-point opening-round win over Stanford, but it shot only 36 percent - including 2-of-16 beyond the arc - in Friday's 73-56 loss to Iowa State.
Florida got off to its best start since opening 7-0 in 2012-13 following an opening-round 81-76 win against Seton Hall on Thursday, but the Gators were unable to take advantage of an early 11-point lead against No. 11 Gonzaga and fell 77-72 in Friday's semifinal.
TV: 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
ABOUT MIAMI (4-1): Junior guard Ja'Quan Newton (17.6 points) is one of seven Hurricanes averaging at least 7.4 points and has topped his season high in every game so far, finishing with 21 points on 9-of-13 from the floor against Iowa State to lift his shooting percentage to 52.5.
Second-leading scorer and usual sharpshooter Davon Reed (11.2) is struggling mightily beyond the arc over his last three outings, going 3-for-17 after connecting on five of his first nine to open the season.
Kamari Murphy (7.4 points, 8.8 rebounds) is Miami's answer to John Egbunu and pulled down a season-high 12 boards against the Cyclones, but the 6-8 senior forward has not scored more than six points in any of his last three games while battling foul trouble each time.
ABOUT FLORIDA (5-1): The Gators were excellent (22-of-24) from the foul line in Friday's setback but poor shooting from the field (24-of-65, including 2-of-19 beyond the arc), especially by leading scorers Canyon Barry (3-for-9) and KeVaughn Allen (7-for-17), ultimately derailed their chances of pulling off the upset.
Berry and Allen (14.2 points apiece) combined to go 1-for-10 from long range versus the Bulldogs - a substantial drop from the middling 15-for-49 effort they combined for over the first five games of the season.
Egbunu (9.8 points, 8.5 boards) has already posted two double-doubles this season and blocked four shots in each of his two games at this event, while Devin Robinson (12.3, 5.7) bounced back from a foul-plagued, five-point effort against Seton Hall to score a team-high 18 points.
TIP-INS
- Miami has made 26 3-pointers and recorded 52 assists through five contests. Last season, the Hurricanes converted 49 3-pointers and tallied 78 assists through five games.
- Florida has been outscored in the paint 70-50 in Lake Buena Vista.
- The Hurricanes are scoring 61.5 points per game at this event after averaging 86.7 over their first three contests.
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