FSU rallies from 25 down to disturb No
CORAL GABLES, Fla.– Down by 25 early in the second half, Florida State decided not to stop playing.And the Seminoles
ended Miami’s hopes of a perfect house season.Matthew Cleveland’s 3-pointer as time ended capped Florida State’s return from a 25-point second-half deficit, and the Seminoles stunned No. 13 Miami 85-84 on Saturday.”We showed a bit about who we are,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said.Jordan Miller had given Miami the lead on a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left.
However Cleveland let fly from about 25 feet and the ball swished to give the Seminoles(9-20, 7-11 Atlantic Coast Conference)their finest moment of the season.They ended Miami’s seven-game winning streak and rejected the Hurricanes a best season in the house; Miami was 15-0 at the Watsco Center getting in Saturday.The 25-point comeback win is the biggest in ACC history, according to ESPN Statistics & Details research study.”Miami’s a truly, really good basketball group.
… I would hate to play them in the NCAA competition, “Hamilton said.Cleveland and Darin Green Jr. each had 20 points for Florida State, which got 13 from Caleb Mills and 11 from Jalen Warley.Miller led Miami (23-6, 14-5)with 21 points. Norchad Omier had 15, Isaiah Wong scored 14 and Bensley Joseph added 12 for the Hurricanes.” We played as well as we could in the very first half,”Miami coach Jim Larrañaga stated.
“But it appeared to me to start the 2nd half that our battery passed away. We didn’t have the energy or juice and it showed most of all with our defense.
“Miami merely might not get stops in the second half. Florida State shot 68 %in the last 20 minutes, lost the lead two times in the last 40 seconds– then stunned its most significant rival anyway.”Credit to them. They played hard,”Miller stated.”
I believe they just desired it more. We came out unfocused. … We’ve simply got to discover a method to close out games like this. There’s no excuse for us losing this game.”Miami ran out to a 14-2 lead after
3 1/2 minutes, and Florida State chipped away to get within 28-23 with 8:12 left in the half.The next 7 minutes were all Miami.It appeared a 22-2 run would essentially put the game away prior to halftime, pressing the Hurricanes’lead to 50-25. Miami made eight of its final 10
shots of the half. “The first half, we simply weren’t ready,”Hamilton said.And then came halftime. The Seminoles sure looked ready.
“We did not inform them anything at halftime
that we didn’t tell them prior to the game began,”Hamilton said.The lead would change hands 10 more times down the stretch, the last of those off Cleveland’s desperation heave after Miller’s consent 3 at
the other end.”I understood they were going to commemorate,”
Cleveland stated. “If we get down and press, we ‘d get a decent
shot.”It was much better than decent. It was perfect.BIG PICTURE Florida State: The Seminoles have, in the meantime, prevented tying a school record for losses. The only FSU team to lose 21 games was the 2000-01 club, which became part of a run of five consecutive losing seasons for the Seminoles. This year will mark
the end of what has been a stretch of 17 successive winning seasons for Florida State.Miami: The Hurricanes lacked guard Nijel Pack, who was eliminated with a lower extremity
injury. Miami is listing him as day-to-day. He’s averaging 13.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 helps per game, with 41 %shooting on 3-pointers. POLL IMPLICATIONS Miami will be in the AP top 25 for the 12th consecutive week when the latest rankings are launched Monday. However the Hurricanes will likely fall a few spots.UP NEXT Florida State: Hosts North Carolina on Monday in its house finale.Miami: Hosts Pittsburgh on March 4 in the regular-season finale.The Associated Press added to this story.