Miami back from last Saturday's 96-71 rout at the hands of North Carolina to earn a pivotal 64-61 win over No. 3 Virginia on Monday night. The result improved the Hurricanes to 5-1 in games decided by seven points or less, with four of those victories coming during its current 6-1 stretch.
Senior guard Sheldon McClellan leads the 'Canes in scoring (15.7 ppg, 13th in the ACC, 24 double figure scoring games this season) and 3-pointers (43-of-105, .410). Senior guard Angel Rodriguez averages 11.3 points and a team-high 4.3 assists (fifth in the ACC). Miami ranks 26th in the nation in free-throw percentage (.746), 25th in fewest turnovers per game (10.7) and 35th in field goal percentage (.473).
Notable
--Saturday's game features the two teams tied for second place in the ACC standings. Both teams sit one game behind first-place North Carolina.
--Louisville has won its last five games against Miami, including both meetings last season.
--Louisville has won 20 games for the 14th straight season. The Cardinals are one of four schools to have won 20 or more games each of the past 14 seasons.
--U of L has also clinched its fourth straight season with single-digit losses.
--Miami is 4-2 against ranked opponents so far this season.
--Louisville leads the nation in scoring margin (+16.3), is seventh in scoring defense (60.8), eighth in field goal percentage defense (.384), 17th in rebound margin (+7.9) and 19th in offensive rebounds (13.6).
--Miami's Sheldon McClellan is the most efficient offensive player in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy. He is also the most efficient player in the ACC overall, and No. 12 in the nation. McClellan is 10th in the ACC in 2-point field goal
percentage (57.3), third in true shooting percentage (63.5) and ninth in free throw percentage (84.7). He is also seventh in the ACC in turnover rate (10.1).
--With three games remaining, Damion Lee needs 13 points to reach 2,000 for his career, including his three seasons at Drexel. Trey Lewis needs nine points for 1,500 career points, including his time at Penn State and Cleveland State. Lee has scored in double figures in 25 of his 27 games this season while Lewis has 18 double-digit scoring efforts.
--Louisville's 145 victories over the last five years are the second-most wins in the nation in that stretch.
Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Miami 68, Louisville 66
