Did you ever learn any of this in school? No, probably not, unless you took a History of the Caribbean class at UM (or some other less accomplished university, for that matter). This weekend, however, the eyes of all Hurricane fans should be square on that small island as the Canes try to win their second Paradise Jam title in program history.
The Canes won the very first Paradise Jam tournament in 2001 with a 67-65 win over Clemson. Last season, the Canes made a trip to Puerto Rico for the first ever Tip-Off Tournament, and returned as champions with a six-point victory over Providence. The Canes now return to the Virgin Islands for the first time since the inaugural Paradise Jam with dreams of another championship trophy.
Friday's tournament opener has the Canes squaring off against Southern Mississippi at 1:00 PM EST. If Miami is able to pull off the victory, they'll likely take on #2 Connecticut, who is facing off against La Salle in Game Three of the tournament (6:00 PM EST). The other side of the bracket has San Diego battling Valparaiso at 3:30 EST (Game Two) and Wisconsin matched-up against Iona in Game Four, the last opening day contest at 8:30 EST.
None of Friday's opening round games will be televised, but the semi-final round and championship games will be broadcast on Fox Sports. If the Canes beat Southern Miss, they'll be playing again at 6:00 EST on Sunday, November 23rd. If the Canes lose (hypothetically speaking, of course), they'll play Saturday night at the same time (6:00 EST).
The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss finished 19-14 last season and return six of their seven top scorers from '07-'08, none more impressive than junior guard Jeremy Wise (18.7 ppg last season). Wise, who is averaging 24.5 points in the Golden Eagles first two wins over Loyola (N.O.) and Alabama State, was described by Frank Haith as likely "one of the best guards we'll face this year."
Does that mean you should be scared of a potential upset at the talons of these Eagles? Eh...no, but don't start looking ahead to UConn just yet either. The Golden Eagles' near 20-win season was no fluke, and they bring back a more experienced team with returning scorers, including Wise, senior Courtney Beasley (12.0 ppg) and sophomore R.L. Horton (12.0 ppg).
Southern Miss is a very undersized team in general, with only four players on the roster listed over 6-7 and only one of whom making any real contributions (6-8 junior Andre Stephens). The Canes will need to look to their big men to establish a post game early on in the contest, so expect a big game out of Dwayne and Cyrus down low. Wise (55%) and Beasley (44%) are both tremendous shooters from the field, so the Canes will need to maintain their lockdown defense that has impressed early on.
Remember, the Canes' pre-season tournament championship in Puerto Rico helped set the tone for a tremendous start out of the gates last year (13-1 before their first ACC regular season game). Miami will hopefully find themselves in a match-up against former Big East rival and #2-ranked UConn on Sunday, a team the Canes beat out for a pledge of allegiance from high school shooting guard Durand Scott this past week.
Beating UConn twice in the same week would be nice, wouldn't it? Alright, alright, enough being hypocritical on my part. No more looking ahead. Let's see the Canes shoot down the Golden Eagles tomorrow before any wild predictions for the rest of the tournament.
You can register to watch streaming video of the opening round games here:
http://www.watchbtihoops.com/
The site has been a little wonky with registration, but hopefully it will be up and running before tomorrow's 1:00 tip. Oh, and don't forget to watch the Canes football team take on Georgia Tech tonight on an ESPN prime-time matchup at 7:30 PM.
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