Live Game Thread: Miami Basketball Vs. Colorado

No. 15 Miami (7-1, 1-0 ACC) will look to continue its strong start to the season. The Hurricanes dominated Long Island 97-49 last time on the court. Miami's only loss was to 16th-ranked Kentucky.

Colorado (6-2, 0-0 Pac-12) controlled Pepperdine in a 91-66 win last time out. The Buffaloes' losses of the season were to Florida State in overtime on Nov. 21 and to 13th-ranked Colorado State.

Series History

This will be just the second meeting between the two programs, as Miami and Colorado met once before on Jan. 3, 1957, before the program's rebirth. The Hurricanes faced a 73-66 defeat to the Buffaloes in Coral Gables.

The Hurricanes are 14-7 in neutral site games since the start of the 2021-22 season.

Rankings

Miami maintained its top-15 ranking for the fifth straight week, checking in at No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Per Stats Perform, there are only four seasons in which the Hurricanes have appeared in the Top 15 in more consecutive weeks (1959-60, 2012-13, 2015-16, 2017-18).

Miami has now appeared in the polls for 19th straight weeks, breaking the program record for consecutive appearances in the Coaches Poll (18 straight USA TODAY Coaches Polls in 2015-16).

Last Game

Miami's 48-point over LIU was the largest scoring margin for the Hurricanes since they defeated Western Carolina by 49, 92-43, on Nov. 11, 2016.

The Hurricanes held a commanding 53-18 lead (35 points) at halftime of the LIU game, its largest lead since Nov. 16, 2009, when Miami led Nova Southeastern by 43 points (61-18), per Stats Perform.

Five Hurricanes scored in double-figures for the third time this season, paced by Norchad Omier, who poured in 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Matthew Cleveland (15), Wooga Poplar (14), Kyshawn George (13), and Nijel Pack were the other players in double-digit scoring.

As a team, Miami knocked down 56.9 percent of its shots from the field and 42.3 percent from beyond the arc.

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Notable Miami Statistics

Forward Omier recorded his fourth double-double of the season on Wednesday, totaling 17 points and 13 rebounds against LIU. Omier currently ranks 16th in the nation (second in the ACC) in double-doubles this season.

Omier is second in Division I with 55 double-doubles since the start of 2020-21 (Armando Bacot, 62).

The Hurricanes are 19-1 (.950) when Omier has a double-double since he joined the team (2022-23), which is the best mark for any D-1 team when a single player has a double-double in that span (min. 12 double-doubles), per Stats Perform.

The Hurricanes continue to dominate from beyond the arc, ranking second in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (42.5), behind only Baylor (43.2). Miami is knocking down an average of 9.6 threes per game, good for 31st in the nation.

Guard Poplar currently ranks fifth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage with a .537 shooting clip from beyond the arc.

Cleveland sits 22nd in the nation (second in the ACC) in field goal percentage at 64.8.

The Miami bench poured in a season-high 30 points against LIU, led by George at 13. George recorded his first double-digit outing on Wednesday, pouring in a career-high 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting. George was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and a perfect 2-of-2 at the charity stripe.

Five different reserve players recorded a bucket in the game, and all five also pulled down a rebound.

AJ Casey ranked second on the team in rebounding against LIU, hauling a career-high seven boards.

The Opponent

Notable Colorado Statistics

The Buffaloes enter Sunday’s contest with a 6-2 overall record and are coming off a 91-66 victory over Pepperdine. As a team, Colorado is averaging 83.8 points per game and shooting 51.6 percent from the field.

Three Buffaloes score in double-figures on a nightly basis, paced by KJ Simpson at 19.4 points per game, 4.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while ranking fourth in rebounding (4.5 RPG). Over the last three games, Simpson has shot 70.4 percent from the field (19-27).

Senior Tristan da Silva is averaging 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while hitting 56 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range

Freshman Cody Williams is third on the team in scoring 14.0 points per game while shooting a team-best 62.3 percent from the field. He is coming off his second-straight 21-point outing, hitting 9 of 13 from the field against Pepperdine.

Junior Julian Hammond III is averaging 9.9 points and is second on the team in assists with 20. Hammond is shooting 75 percent from the field over the last three games (12-16).

Senior Eddie Lampkin, Jr., leads the Buffaloes and ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in rebounding at 7.6 per game. Lampkin had 10 rebounds against Pepperdine, his third double-figure rebounding game of the season.

The Buffaloes are fourth in the nation in 3-point accuracy at 41.8 percent, eighth in overall shooting (.516), and 11th from the line (.787). Colorado is the only program in the nation ranked in the top 11 in all three categories (through games of Dec. 6).

The Buffaloes lead the Pac-12 Conference in all three as well. Against Pepperdine, Colorado shot 57.4 percent (31-54), its third straight game at 54 percent or better and the sixth time above 50 percent in eight games. The Buffaloes had seven games at .500 or better in 35 games last season (6-1).

Miami Athletics and Colorado Athletics Contributed to this report

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