Miami @ North Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 9, 2019 ) Miami-Florida 85, North Carolina 88

This certainly hasn't been a season to remember for North Carolina, which continues to flounder with six straight ACC losses -- a first in Tar Heels history -- and five in a row overall heading into a matchup with Miami on Saturday. Both schools suffered heartbreaking setbacks this week, with the Tar Heels handed a 79-77 double-overtime defeat at Virginia Tech while Miami was dealt an 83-79 overtime loss to rival Florida State before getting pummeled by Duke 89-59.

"Nobody's going to feel sorry for us," Tar Heels sophomore guard Leaky Black told reporters. It's certainly been a rough go for Roy Williams' troops but they have actually led at halftime six times in the last nine games but they won just twice (vs. UCLA and Yale). A short-handed roster has plagued the Tar Heels, just as it has for the Hurricanes, but while Miami has started the same starting lineup in every game, North Carolina has been forced to send out seven different ones, a marked change from last season when the Tar Heels used just two starting lineups -- one for 35 games and one for a single game. "If you had asked me in August who our top seven players would be, I'd tell you we don't have four of those seven," Williams said after the Virginia Tech loss. "So we're thin, but guys got to be able get in there and do some things."

TIME: 12 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT MIAMI (10-8, 2-6 ACC): Guard Kameron McGusty and center Rodney Miller Jr. paced the Hurricanes in the loss to Duke with each scoring 13 points but the team didn't shoot well, hitting just 30 percent of their shots overall and 22.2 percent from long range. Miller did come up with his first double-double with a career-best 13 rebounds to become the fourth Hurricane to record a double-double this season, joining McGusty (two), Dejan Vasiljevic and Sam Waardenburg. The team's leading scorer, Chris Lykes (15.7 points per game), was held to nine points in the loss to Duke, but he's averaging 18.3 points in his four career outings against North Carolina, including 22.5 in two road contests.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA (8-10, 1-6): Injuries continue to be a huge part of the story as seven different Tar Heels, including leading scorer Cole Anthony (19.1), have combined to miss a total of 57 games due to injury thus far. Third-leading scorer Brandon Robinson (12.1 ppg) is questionable after sitting out against Virginia Tech due to neck pain after a car accident, but big man Garrison Brooks remains a weapon and he topped the team with 28 points against the Hokies, followed by Justin Pierce with 15 and Black with 12. Brooks ranks third in the ACC in rebounding (9.4), eighth in field goal percentage (53.8) and 10th in scoring (15.2) just behind Miami's Lykes, and his current streak of six straight games with a double-double is the longest by a Tar Heel since John Henson's nine in a row in 2011.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. North Carolina has a 24-8 lead in this series, with the Tar Heels winning the last three matchups, including an 88-85 decision in overtime last February.

2. Miami has won three of its last five road contests against North Carolina.

3. The Tar Heels held Virginia Tech to just 36.9 percent shooting, the fourth time an opponent shot under 40 percent from the field this season in a win over North Carolina (Virginia, Wofford, Pitt and Virginia Tech).

PREDICTION: North Carolina 74, Miami 70