Hurricanes Hoops News and Notes.

The new AP poll came out, and UM was voted a very respectable 14th in the nation. A strong argument can be made that UM should be higher.

It's been well documented that Miami is 8-0 with their full allotment of players. But taking injury/suspension out of the equation, what they have accomplished is still incredibly impressive.

• #1 SOS in the Nation.

• #3 RPI, #14 AP.
  

• 5-1 against RPI top 50.

• 4-1 against 51-100.

• 6-1 against > 100.

(full breakdown below)

Wins (RPI 1-50)
RPI DATE OPPONENT SCORE
12 Nov. 28 Michigan State 67-59
47 Dec. 14 Charlotte 77-46
26 Jan. 2 La Salle 76-59
36 Jan. 10 @ North Carolina 68-59
1 Jan. 23 Duke 90-63

Losses (RPI 1-50)
RPI DATE OPPONENT SCORE
4 Dec. 23 Arizona* 50-69

Wins (RPI 51-100)
RPI DATE OPPONENT SCORE
89 Nov. 24 Detroit 77-62
55 Dec. 1 @ Massachusetts 75-62
62 Jan. 13 Maryland 54-47
72 Jan. 27 Florida State 71-47

Losses (RPI 51-100)
RPI DATE OPPONENT SCORE
56 Dec. 25 Indiana State* 55-57

Wins (RPI 101-150)
RPI DATE OPPONENT SCORE
104 Dec. 18 @ UCF 72-50
118 Jan. 5 @ Georgia Tech 62-49
135 Jan. 16 @ Boston College 60-59

Losses (RPI 101-150)
RPI DATE OPPONENT SCORE
126 Nov. 13 @ Florida Gulf Coast 51-63

Wins (RPI 150+)
RPI DATE OPPONENT SCORE
227 Nov. 9 Stetson 87-79
237 Nov. 16 Jacksonville 73-57
232 Dec. 23 @ Hawaii 73-58

Losses (RPI 150+)

None.

Let's not forget amongst this list is LaSalle, who have beaten back to back ranked opponents (#9 Butler and #19 VCU) as well as Michigan State, currently ranked one spot above UM at #13 and second in the Big Ten aka "the best conference in college basketball."

Additional Notes:

Coach Larranaga expressed concern over Miami's rebounding troubles a few weeks back. This past week the team seemed to address it. The 'Canes out-rebounded Duke 49-41, before besting FSU 44-32 on the glass. The biggest difference? One would think the return of Reggie Johnson (5.5 rpg over last 2 games) over the same span, 5'11 PG Shane Larkin has ripped an incredible 9.5 boards a game.

Speaking of Larkin, both Maryland's Mark Turgeon and the Seminoles Leonard Hamilton spent large portions of their post game pressers praising UM's super quick point guard. While their is still a long way to go, don't be shocked to see "Sugar Shane" all over ALL ACC lists come season's end.

During Wednesday's "Dukestruction" (credit Josh for that brilliant nugget), Dickie V argued that Kenny Kadji should be scoring 18 points a game. And while anyone who has seen Kadji play would agree the 6'11 "stretch 4" has the abilities to do so, thats not how UM is built. 5 players average in double figures and anyone from Reggie Johnson to Rion Brown are capable of going off on a given night. This balance and unselfish approach will ultimately benefit Miami in the long run. The 'Canes finished with 18 assists on 27 FG's made Sunday night.

Through 6 conference games, Miami is outscoring opponents by an average of 13.5 points (67.5 - 54.0). Nearly double the next best scoring margin differential (Duke +7.8).

Julian Gamble leads all defenders in blocks per game in conference (3.0 bpg). Larkin (2.0 spg) leads the conference in steals.

Last but not least, Congratulations to Durand Scott on being named ACC Player of the Week. Scott averaged 18 ppg over 2 games but most importantly played stellar defense against Duke's Seth Curry and FSU's Michael Snaer who totaled 4 points together.