Tigers Head to Coral Gables To Face Hurricanes

Jan. 25, 2005

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This will be Clemson’s fourth ACC road game in its last fivegames. Clemson has five of its first seven league games on theroad, the only ACC team who has that challenging an open to itsschedule. The only two home games for the Tigers are with top fiveteams Wake Forest and North Carolina. After Wednesday night’s gameat Miami the Tigers will play at Littlejohn Coliseum for fourconsecutive conference games, then have a non-conference gameagainst Georgia in the BiLo Center in Greenville. Tiger playerswon’t have to spend a night on the road for 22 consecutive days.This will be the first meeting between Clemson and Miami (FL) sincethe 2001-02 season when the Hurricanes defeated Clemson 67-65 inthe championship game of the Paradise Jam. Two current Tigers wereon the Clemson roster the last time Clemson played Miami (FL).Sharrod Ford, then a freshman in his third career game, played justfour minutes as a reserve and had no points and one rebound in the67-65 Miami win in the Virgin Islands. It is one of just sevengames in Ford’s career in which he failed to score. Olu Babalolawas on the roster, but did not play in that game against Miami in2001. Clemson does have a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series withMiami. Four of the previous six games have been on neutral sites.The two teams played a home and home series in 1994-95 and 1995-96,Rick Barnes first two years as Clemson head coach. Clemson won bothmeetings, including a 14-point win in overtime in Miami in Decemberof 1995.. Rick Barnes is a common denominator between Clemson andMiami head coach Frank Haith. Barnes coached at Clemson from1994-98, and was the head coach at Texas when Haith was anassistant under Barnes. Clemson will attempt to becme just thethird school since 1971 to win at Miami in football and men’sbasketball in the same academic year. Syracuse (1997-98) andFlorida (1985-86) are the other institution to do it. Clemson beatthe Hurricanes on the gridiron 24-17 in overtime last fall. SharrodFord has scored in double figures in four straight games and sevenof his last eight. He has scored in double figures in 11 of hislast 12 ACC road games. Olu Babalola had 22 points, seven reboundsand five assists at Virginia, the first Clemson forward to have atleast 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in a single gamesince Greg Buckner did it as a freshman in 1994-95 against NorthCarolina. Two of Clemson’s next five games are against Miami (FL).Miami is at Clemson on Feb. 12.