UM to face one of nation’s top guards, NC State’s Terquavion Smith, at home Saturday
Ten games into the season, this much is clear about the University of Miami men’s basketball team as it heads into Saturday’s 2 p.m. home game against North Carolina State:
The Hurricanes can score. A lot. That is a big reason they are 9-1 and in second place in the early ACC standings. They average 77.7 points per game and are coming off a frenetic 107-105 win over Cornell during which they scored 66 points in the first half. No team in Division I has scored more first-half points this season.
UM has a balanced offense. Four players are averaging in double figures. Isaiah Wong, who put up a career-high 36 against Cornell, leads the Canes with 15.6 points per game. Jordan Miller is averaging 14.6, Norchad Omier 14 and Nijel Pack 11.5.
The area that needs most work, said UM coach Jim Larranaga, is defense. The Hurricanes will need to clamp down to contain NC State, whose roster includes two of the top five scorers in the conference. Wolfpack guard Terquavion Smith ranks third in the ACC with 17.7 points per game and guard Jarkel Joiner is fifth at 16.8.
Smith made six three-pointers and scored 33 in a 94-72 win against Coppin State over the weekend and Joiner added 29, including five threes.
“He’s projected to be an NBA lottery pick, he’s the same kind of player as Ja Morant,” Larranaga said of Smith. “He’s got tremendous run and jump talent, tremendous ball skills and three-point shooting ability. So, you can’t stop a guy like that, you just hope to curtail a little bit of his opportunities.”
Larranaga said UM will rotate defenders on Smith with Bensley Joseph, Wooga Poplar, Wong and Pack all involved.
NC State and Miami rank 1-2 in the conference in steals, the Wolfpack with 9.9 per game and the Canes with 8.5. The Hurricanes will have to take better care of the ball than they have in the past two games.
“We’ve had 16 turnovers in the last two games, we need to reduce that to 10,” Larranaga said. “If we have 10, 11 or 12 against NC State I’d be pretty satisfied with that. If it’s 16, 18 or 20, that would be a very bad sign for us.”
Like Miami, NC State (8-2) has a high-octane offense. The Wolfpack and the Hurricanes are the only teams in the ACC that have four players who have scored 30 or more points in a game in their career.
The Pack and Miami both have scored the most points in a single game this season with NC State scoring 107 against FIU on Nov. 15 and Miami scoring 107 on Wednesday night against Cornell.
In addition to containing the Wolfpack guards, UM will have to keep the ball from senior forward D.J. Burns, who is 6-9 and 275 pounds.
“Norchad will have his hands full with Burns,” Larranaga said. “Norchad’s big, but he’s not that big. The two of them will try to have their way with each other. Norchad needs to use his speed and quickness. I’m sure Burns will try to use his bulk. But they both have skill. We need to keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible.”
Omier, who transferred from Arkansas State this season, leads the ACC with 44 offensive rebounds and ranks third overall with 9.9 per game. He said he has increased his basketball IQ since joining Miami and is eager to test himself against ACC big men such as Burns.
“Every night, night in and night out, the competition is going to be hard, so we have to prepare mentally,” Omier said. “I’m trying to get used to this every night. [Burns] is going to be a good matchup, good player, I just have to be ready mentally and physically.”