CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The first real look at the Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team is here, and they are playing another team that has also been ranked inside the preseason top 25 , No. 24 Vanderbilt.

So far, these exhibition games have been fun and competitive, even if they don't count on the record books.

However, for Jai Lucas and the Canes , this is the first game of the season. They are preparing to take on No. 1 Florida, and it starts with the Commadores.

"That's why we wanted to make sure our exhibition game was a big-time game because of what the first game is," Lucas said. "And so playing somebody who has size, playing somebody from the same conference, playing somebody who also is really, really good and really well coached was important. So, you take it and we'll treat it like a real game.

"Now, I probably will say we'll probably play more people than we would in a real game. Like everybody will get an opportunity. We've done that with some of our stuff that we've done so far.…