Miami is trying to stay focused after matching the highest ranking in school history. Next up is last-place Boston College, which nearly won last month's meeting.
The No. 8 Hurricanes are perfect at home as they try for a 10th straight victory overall Tuesday night against an Eagles team that could again be pesky.
Miami (17-3, 8-0) reached the eighth spot in the Top 25 one other time, on March 1, 1960. The Hurricanes are off to the best ACC start by any team since Duke began 10-0 five seasons ago.
"To have a part of being a top-10 program in the country is crazy, man," forward Reggie Johnson said. "I would have never thought that, especially being at Miami."
The Hurricanes are 9-0 at home and enjoying their longest win streak since a 12-0 start to 2007-08. Boston College (10-11, 2-6) is in a three-way tie for last place with Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
Miami insists it won't be looking ahead, as it needed four free throws from Durand Scott in the final 30 seconds for a 60-59 road victory over the Eagles on Jan. 16. Boston College's Olivier Hanlan, who scored a team-high 17 points, was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with a half-second left and his team down by 3, but missed the last attempt after making the first two.
The Hurricanes have won five straight in the series. "Our focus level has got to be at an all-time high," Johnson said. "Because everybody is probably looking at every game like this is their trap game, I guess because we're undefeated right now. Boston College is a team that we struggled with up in Chestnut Hill."
Boston College limited Miami's Shane Larkin to seven points and 2-of-8 shooting. Larkin, recruited by Eagles coach Steve Donahue, has averaged 16.0 points and 52.2 percent shooting in four games since. "He's got a great situation where he's at," Donahue said. "I just told our guys, I think he's the key to that team."
Johnson missed last month's meeting with a broken thumb. He had his best game in four since returning with 15 points and eight boards in a 79-78 victory at then-No. 19 North Carolina State on Saturday, tipping in Larkin's miss with 0.8 seconds left for the winning points. "They didn't have Reggie Johnson, which I think he is a huge plus for them," Donahue said. "Just gives them another weapon inside." BC ended a five-game slide with a 75-68 home win over Clemson on Saturday. Freshman Joe Rahon scored a season-high 26 points as the Eagles shot 57.8 percent.
The Eagles lead the conference with nearly 22 3-point attempts per game. Ryan Anderson is fourth in the ACC at 16.2 points a contest, although he was held to 11 in last month's matchup."They're able to share the ball well, spread you out, make 3s, get driving layups and get to the foul line," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "That's a team that's hard to match up with."
[TABLE="class: mod-data mod-pbp"]
[TR="class: team-color-strip"]
[TH="align: right"]
BC
[/TH]
[TH="align: right"]
MIA
[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD="align: left"]W-L
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]10-11
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]17-3
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD="align: left"]Avg Points
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]68.3
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]69.5
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD="align: left"]Avg Points Allowed
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]68.2
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]59.4
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD="align: left"]Home Record
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]8-5
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]9-0
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD="align: left"]Road Record
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]2-4
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]8-1
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD="align: left"]Current Streak
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]W1
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]W9
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
The No. 8 Hurricanes are perfect at home as they try for a 10th straight victory overall Tuesday night against an Eagles team that could again be pesky.
Miami (17-3, 8-0) reached the eighth spot in the Top 25 one other time, on March 1, 1960. The Hurricanes are off to the best ACC start by any team since Duke began 10-0 five seasons ago.
"To have a part of being a top-10 program in the country is crazy, man," forward Reggie Johnson said. "I would have never thought that, especially being at Miami."
The Hurricanes are 9-0 at home and enjoying their longest win streak since a 12-0 start to 2007-08. Boston College (10-11, 2-6) is in a three-way tie for last place with Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
Miami insists it won't be looking ahead, as it needed four free throws from Durand Scott in the final 30 seconds for a 60-59 road victory over the Eagles on Jan. 16. Boston College's Olivier Hanlan, who scored a team-high 17 points, was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with a half-second left and his team down by 3, but missed the last attempt after making the first two.
The Hurricanes have won five straight in the series. "Our focus level has got to be at an all-time high," Johnson said. "Because everybody is probably looking at every game like this is their trap game, I guess because we're undefeated right now. Boston College is a team that we struggled with up in Chestnut Hill."
Boston College limited Miami's Shane Larkin to seven points and 2-of-8 shooting. Larkin, recruited by Eagles coach Steve Donahue, has averaged 16.0 points and 52.2 percent shooting in four games since. "He's got a great situation where he's at," Donahue said. "I just told our guys, I think he's the key to that team."
Johnson missed last month's meeting with a broken thumb. He had his best game in four since returning with 15 points and eight boards in a 79-78 victory at then-No. 19 North Carolina State on Saturday, tipping in Larkin's miss with 0.8 seconds left for the winning points. "They didn't have Reggie Johnson, which I think he is a huge plus for them," Donahue said. "Just gives them another weapon inside." BC ended a five-game slide with a 75-68 home win over Clemson on Saturday. Freshman Joe Rahon scored a season-high 26 points as the Eagles shot 57.8 percent.
The Eagles lead the conference with nearly 22 3-point attempts per game. Ryan Anderson is fourth in the ACC at 16.2 points a contest, although he was held to 11 in last month's matchup."They're able to share the ball well, spread you out, make 3s, get driving layups and get to the foul line," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "That's a team that's hard to match up with."
[TABLE="class: mod-data mod-pbp"]
[TR="class: team-color-strip"]
[TH="align: right"]
BC
[/TH]
[TH="align: right"]
MIA
[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD="align: left"]W-L
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]10-11
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]17-3
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD="align: left"]Avg Points
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]68.3
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]69.5
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD="align: left"]Avg Points Allowed
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]68.2
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]59.4
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD="align: left"]Home Record
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]8-5
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]9-0
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD="align: left"]Road Record
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]2-4
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]8-1
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD="align: left"]Current Streak
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]W1
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]W9
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
