Hurricanes and Pirates Look to Enter Holidays on Win Streak
The fans at Titan Gym will be treated see the Miami Hurricanes and the Seton Hall Pirates on Sunday Night in the Championship Game of the 2018 Wooden Legacy. The Hurricanes have played well to start the season but Seton Hall is still trying to find itself.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
LINE: Miami -5; O/U: 141.
Myles Powell has carried Seton Hall and the offense on his shoulders all month long. The high-scoring guard may more help from his teammates if the squad hopes to take down the Hurricanes.
Miami hopes to corral the nation's seventh-leading scorer and move to 6-0 for the second straight season. They take on their former Big East rival in Fullerton, Calif.
The Pirates edged Grand Canyon in Thursday's opening round behind a career-high 40 points from Powell. He tied James Harden's single-game tournament record in a non-overtime game for Arizona State in 2008.
Seton Hall's newest 1,000-point scorer was held mostly in check with only 19 points, which is 6.8 below his season average, against Hawaii. A stingy defensive effort held the Warriors more than 25 below their season average in a 64-54 win.
Miami made their way into the title game earlier in the day. They advanced with a put-back dunk from Zach Johnson with two-tenths of a second remaining to hold off Fresno State 78-76.
The Pirates haven't received more than Michael Nzei's 16 points on Friday from any other player this season. Johnson's 24-point effort made him the fourth different Miami player to score 20 at least once.
Miami and Seton Hall a Tale of Two Teams on Offense
Miami is 5-0 on the new season.
Coach Jim Larranaga credited Johnson's size (6-2) and well-rounded play as key reasons why his team was able to advance in the tournament.
"I look at it like we have seven starters," he told reporters. "Zach is bigger and stronger against their press and can see a bit better over it. ... The defense collapsed to stop him from scoring at a high rate, but what makes a guy really good is if he can make his teammates better, and he did that."
Chris Lykes has a team-high 19.6 points and 2.4 steals a game. He leads four other Miami players averaging at least 11.4 points. Lykes has recorded at least 17 and two steals in every contest thus far.
Johnson is the first Miami reserve to score 24 or more points in at least nine seasons.
Seton Hall is 3-2 on the season.
Powell is averaging 25.8 points per game and is responsible for 36.2 percent of the team's scoring. He is the only player from a major conference shooting at least 50 percent while averaging at least 25 points entering Saturday.
Powell was the 44th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points on Friday.
No other Pirate scores more than 9.2 points per game. Nzei and sophomore Myles Cale, who had 10 points, recorded season-high point totals on Friday.
Sandro Mamukelashvili averages 7.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He continues to flirt with double-doubles, although he has yet to post one. He has grabbed at least seven rebounds in each of his last four contests.
Syracuse transfer and fellow sophomore Taurean Thompson is averaging 10 points at this event after totaling nine in his first three games.
PREDICTION: Miami 81, Seton Hall 68
NCAA Basketball Betting Odds & Trends
Miami Hurricanes:
Team record: 5-0 SU,3-2 ATS
Current Streak: won 5 straight games.
Miami is 6-13 ATS in its last 19 games
Miami is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Miami's last 8 games
Seton Hall Pirates:
Team record: 3-2 SU,3-2 ATS
Seton Hall is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Seton Hall's last 5 games
Seton Hall is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Miami
Next up:
Miami home to Rutgers Wednesday, November 28
Seton Hall home to Louisville Saturday, December 1
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