Alabama A&M @ Miami preview

After two consecutive losses to close out the Charleston Classic, Miami bounced back with an 81-79 triumph over Illinois on Monday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The victory was No. 650 for head coach Jim Larranaga in his 36-year career and he goes for 651 on Saturday as the Hurricanes host Alabama A&M in their first home game in 27 days.

The Hurricanes got off to an impressive start on the road at Illinois, running out to a huge 45-18 lead with a little over four minutes left in the first half and at one point, Miami hit 10 shots in a row. "Winning on the road is very difficult, but getting out in front and playing as well as we did in the first half really gave us a chance," Larranaga told reporters. "I have got a lot of respect for the job Illinois did, and their players in making a great comeback, but we were able to keep our poise down the stretch and win the game." Redshirt senior forward Keith Stone made his Hurricanes debut in the win, playing for the first time in 317 days after suffering a right knee injury back in January while playing for Florida and he finished with two points and three rebounds in 15 minutes. The road hasn't been as friendly to Alabama A&M as the Bulldogs opened the season with five straight losses, all away from home, but they have rebounded with back-to-back victories on their homecourt, including a 67-62 overtime win against Jacksonville State last time out.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ACC Network.

ABOUT ALABAMA A&M (2-5): Only two Bulldogs are averaging in double figures for a team that was held below 55 points in three of the five road losses, with freshman guard Cameron Alford leading the way with 14.3 points per game after scoring a career-high 23 points in the team's first win of the season over Troy and 18 against Jacksonville State. Alford is also Alabama A&M's top rebounder (5.6), with grad transfer TJ Parham sitting second in both scoring (10.1) and rebounding (4). The Bulldogs are only hitting 28.2 percent of their 3-point shots after a dismal 3-of-23 effort (13 percent) last time out.

ABOUT MIAMI (5-3): Stone's return coincides with the loss of another Hurricane as sophomore forward Deng Gak suffered a knee injury in practice after playing in seven games, leaving the team with nine scholarship players. Junior guard Chris Lykes, the team's leading scorer with 14.8 points per game, rebounded from his only non-double-figure outing (seven points against Connecticut) to tie a career high with 28 points against Illinois, setting personal bests for makes (11) and steals (four). Senior guard Dejan Vasiljevic is second in scoring (14.6) and he remains the team's best deep threat after hitting 6-of-9 3-pointers against Illinois, giving him an average of 48 percent for the season (24-of-50), third best in the ACC.

TIP-INS

1. This will be the first ever meeting between these teams.

2. Vasiljevic needs just 21 points to become the 40th Hurricane to hit 1,000 for his career.

3. Larranaga ranks 10th in the nation in victories among active Division I coaches.

PREDICTION: Miami 77, Alabama A&M 58