UM men’s hoops opens vs. Louisville, then UCF, Illinois, Temple and these other teams

The University of Miami men’s basketball team will jump right into the fire to open the 2019-20 season with a Nov. 5 home game against conference rival Louisville, projected to be a top-five team. After that, UM will play 10 nonconference games in five cities.

The Hurricanes, eager to rebound from a disappointing season, take on Florida Atlantic at home (Nov. 8, 7 p.m.) and then head to Orlando to play the University of Central Florida Nov. 12. The Knights are coming off their best season in school history. They went 24-9, earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, won their first-round game over VCU and nearly upset heavily favored Duke in the second round.

A Nov. 16 home game against Quinnipiac is followed by four road games. The Canes open at the Charleston (S.C.) Classic vs. Missouri State Nov. 21 and then face Florida State or St. Joseph’s on Nov. 22. Their final game in Charleston will be against Buffalo, UConn, Towson or Xavier on Nov. 24.

Then it’s off to Champaign, Illinois, to play Illinois Dec. 2 in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge and back home vs. Alabama A&M on Dec. 14.

Next up, Miami travels to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a Dec. 17 game against a Temple team that went 23-10 and made the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Jim Larrañaga’s team wraps up its nonconference schedule at home against Coppin State on Dec. 21.

“We have put together an exciting, challenging nonconference schedule that will help our players prepare for ACC competition,” Larrañaga said. “Along with playing in front of our great fans here in South Florida, we are looking forward to giving our many supporters in Orlando and New York the opportunity to see us in-person this year.”

UM’s first exhibition game is against Flagler (Oct. 30, 7 p.m.) at the Watsco Center.