2018 Wooden Legacy Championship Notes – Miami vs. Seton Hall

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference will meet Seton Hall from the BIG EAST Conference at 7:30 p.m. (PT) Sunday (November 25) on the floor of Titan Gym at Cal State Fullerton in the championship game of the 12th annual Wooden Legacy.  While Seton Hall is competing in the event for the first-time, Miami is bidding for a title in its second Wooden Legacy appearance after placing fifth in 2013.  The Hurricanes won two of three games in 2013 after dropping their first game to George Washington 71-63 in overtime before rebounding with wins over Cal State Fullerton (48-46) and Arizona State (60-57).

TELEVISION – The championship game will be televised by ESPN2 with Doug Sherman and Robbie Hummel describing and commenting on the action, respectively.  Sherman and Hummel will also call the action for the La Salle vs. Grand Canyon game.  Dave Feldman and Corey Williams will be the play-by-play and analyst, respectively, for the first two games Sunday.

Sunday, November 25 Schedule (series record)

MIAMI VS. SETON HALL – Seton Hall has won 18 of the previous 23 meetings as the two schools met regularly from 1991 through 2004 when Miami was a member of the BIG EAST.   Here are the results between the two schools.

12/29/1956 – Seton Hall 92-80 at Miami

12/29/1969 – Seton Hall 93-90 at Miami

1/4/1971 – Miami 89-81 at Miami

1/7/1992 – Seton Hall 64-52 at South Orange

3/4/1992 – Seton Hall 90-82 (OT) at Miami

12/7/1992 – Seton Hall 65-56 at South Orange

2/23/1993 – Seton Hall L 85-73 at Miami

1/26/1994 – Seton Hall 77-48 at Miami

2/19/1994 – Seton Hall 85-63 at South Orange

3/10/1994 – Seton Hall 69-51 at MSG

1/2/1995 – Seton Hall 2-54 at South Orange

2/22/1995 – Miami 61-57 at Miami

12/2/1995 – Miami 80-70 at Miami

1/10/1996 – Seton Hall 66-63 at South Orange

2/10/1997 – Miami 61-51 at South Orange

12/31/1997 – Miami 78-65 at South Orange

2/24/1998 – Seton Hall 76-71 at Miami

1/27/1999 – Miami 77-71 at Miami

1/11/2000 – Miami 71-64 at South Orange

2/1/2001 – Miami 72-66 at Miami

1/18/2003 – Seton Hall 76-53 at South Orange

3/12/2003 – Seton Hall 67-52 at MSG

2/24/2004 – Seton Hall 76-66 at Miami

Miami (5-0)

O30        Barry (exhibition)…………………………………………. W 91-61

N9          Lehigh………………………………………………………… W 83-62

N13        Stephen F. Austin………………………………………… W 96-58

N17        Bethune-Cookman……………………………………….. W 78-70

N22        La Salle at Wooden Legacy………………………… W 85-79

N23        Fresno State at Wooden Legacy…………………. W 78-76

N25        Seton Hall in Wooden Legacy title game…… 7:30 p.m.

N28        Rutgers (ACC/Big Ten Challenge), 7:15 p.m. ET

Seton Hall (3-2)

N6          at Boston College (exhibition)………………………… W 76-62

N6          Wagner………………………………………………………. W 89-49

N9          New Haven (exhibition)………………………………… W 73-62

N14        at Nebraska………………………………………………….. L 57-80

N17        Saint Louis…………………………………………………… L 64-66

N22        Grand Canyon at Wooden Legacy………………. W 82-75

N23        Hawai’i at Wooden Legacy…………………………. W 64-54

N25        Miami in Wooden Legacy title game…….. 7:30 p.m. PT

D1          Louisville, 12 p.m. ET

THE COACHES – Jim Larrañaga is in his eighth season at Miami with a 166-79 record, including 4-1 at the Wooden Legacy.  In his 35th season as a head coach, Larrañaga has a 636-413 coaching record. Kevin Willard is in his ninth season at Seton Hall with a 153-116 record.  This is his 12th season as a head coach with a 198-165 record.  The Wooden Legacy title game is the first meeting between the two coaches.  In meetings with Willard’s father (Ralph), Larrañaga holds a 3-1 edge.  Ralph Willard split a pair of games with the then-Bowling Green coach Larrañaga when he was coaching at Western Kentucky (1990 and 1991).  When Ralph Willard coached at Holy Cross and Larrañaga was at George Mason, the current Miami coach won both games against Kevin’s father (2005 and 2006).

WOODEN LEGACY CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES – Both Miami and Seton Hall will be seeking to become the second school from their conference to win the Wooden Legacy/Anaheim Classic title.  Wake Forest from the Atlantic Coast Conference captured the 2008 title by defeating Cal State Fullerton, UTEP and Baylor in the Anaheim Classic.  The next season, then-BIG EAST member West Virginia claimed the 2009 Anaheim Classic crown with wins over Long Beach State, Texas A&M and Portland.  Overall, Atlantic Coast Conference schools have won 16 of 26 Wooden Legacy/Anaheim Classic games with BIG EAST school sporting a 13-13 record.

WOODEN CHIPS – A tournament title here has big implications, as all but two of the past Wooden Legacy champions went on to play in the NCAA Tournament (the only exceptions were schools from the state of Washington, the Huskies in 2014 and the Cougars in 2017).

Season, championship game result Champions final record, post-season finish

2017 – Washington State (Pac-12) 93, San Diego State (Mountain West 86) 12-19, Pac-12 first-round

2016 – UCLA (Pac-12) 74, Texas A&M (Southeastern) 67 31-5 record, NCAA “Sweet 16”

2015 – Michigan State (Big Ten) 77, Providence (Big East) 64 29-6 record, NCAA first round

2014 – Washington (Pac-12) 68, UTEP (Conference USA) 65 16-15 Pac-12 first-round

2013 – San Diego State (Mountain West) 67, Marquette (Big East) 59……. 31-4, NCAA “Sweet 16”

2012 – Cal (Pac-12) 78, Pacific (Big West) 58………….. 21-12, NCAA third round

2011 – Saint Louis (A10) 83, Oklahoma (Big 12) 63…… 26-8, NCAA third-round

2010 – UNLV (Mountain West) 71, Virginia Tech (ACC) 59 24-9, NCAA second-round

2009 – West Virginia (Big East) 84, Portland (WCC) 66.. 31-7, NCAA “final four”

2008 – Wake Forest (ACC) 87, Baylor (Big 12) 74………. 24-7, NCAA first-round

2007 – USC (Pac-12) 70, Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) 45 21-12, NCAA first-round

2019 WOODEN LEGACY – Scheduled to be played November 28 and 29, and December 1, the 12-game bracketed event will feature Arizona (Pac-12), College of Charleston (Colonial Athletic), Long Beach State (Big West), Penn (Ivy), Pepperdine (West Coast), Providence (BIG EAST), UCF (American Athletic) and Wake Forest (Atlantic Coast).