FSU 74 Miami 66 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Good
With the win, FSU improves to 16-10 overall, 7-8 ACC. The victory guarantees the Seminoles a winning record in the regular season. In this 95th game of the rivalry, 57 have been decided by single digits. Coming into the game, FSU had won 13 of the last 14. Make that 14 of 15. Coming into the game, FSU had won 15 of the last 17. Make that 16 of 18. Coming into the game, FSU had won 8 of the last 10 in Tallahassee. Make that 9 of 11. Oh, and it was the 5th straight win over the Hurricanes. This is a rivalry? I'm OK with that BTW.
Its not how you start, but how you finish. And with FSU, that has been a scenario we have often seen this season. A slow start by the Seminoles where UM led much of the first half gave way to a late push by the 'Noles resulting in a 31-31 tie at the break. The first 11 minutes of the second period saw a continued back and forth with either team leading by one to three points. But with 9:04 to play, a Malique Ewin basket sandwiched by two three pointers by AJ Swinton gave FSU a working margin, 53-47. Miami never got within five points the remainder of the game. Key baskets, getting to the FT line, and a tough defense held off the 'Canes. Leonard Hamilton in his post game interview called it a tremendous effort by the entire team. And it was.
Player of the game clearly goes to Ewin who scored a career high 24 points and was a perfect 10 of 10 from the floor. That marked the fourth time in school history that a Florida State player has had a perfect shooting game (minimum ten attempts) and the first since January 1992 when Doug Edwards was also 10 of 10 against UNC Ashville.
With his first FT at the :51 mark and the and the Seminoles leading 68-62, Jamir Watkins reached 1,500 career points. Watkins finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds. It was not an especially good shooting night for him however connecting on just 2 of 12 shots. It was his ability to get to the stripe and convert those ops, 11-14, that helped carry the 'Noles to the win. In the last 2:09, Watkins connected on 6 of his 8 attempts.
Taylor Bol Bowen tying a career for the fourth time with four blocked shots. I could have sworn he had five.
Chandler Jackson who made his presence known on offense with 11 points by playing downhill.
Justin Thomas who missed all four of his shots, but recorded three assists and generally was a pest defensively out there to the Hurricanes.
12 .......... as in 12 steals leading to 16 turnovers by Miami.
The defense on Matthew Cleveland (who was booed early and often by the student section) holding him to 14 points on 3-13 from the floor. He was averaging just over 24 ppg his previous five games. Credit Watkins for a lot of that.
Plays of the game. Ewin is hemmed in under the basket by two Miami defenders. His adept footwork saw him pivot and twist finding an opening a flipping the ball in, 26-27. Ewin with the dribble drive from above the key showing he can go left and laid the ball in uncontested, 33-33. Alier Maluk with the steal and two offensive rebounds of his own shot floating the ball in all on the same possession, 40-39. UM player Austin Swartz and his his bullet pass .......... right to the referee standing OB. Swinton with the open look three, 48-45, with Jackson on the assist. Bol Bowen with the offensive rebound off a missed Ewin FT getting the ball to an open (again) on the left wing (again) Swinton for the three, 53-47. Thomas breaking the press and lobbing the ball to Ewin for the slam dunk with 23 seconds left, 73-66, and making it a three possession game.
The Bad
Miami adeptly manipulated FSU's switching defense and early on managed to get a favorable matchup with Dequan Davis guarding players who had distinct a height advantage. Adjustments were made and Miami was no where near as successful.
It was looking like a repeat of FSU's debacle against Clemson in the area of dishing the ball. For a long time the Seminoles had zero (not to be confused with Zero Mostel) assists and ended the half with just four.
ESPN and its box score that showed Thomas with seven, yes seven, personal fouls. They did correct that later on.
The Ugly
On man, it was looking real bad for Watkins outside the arc as he missed his first six three pointers. He was perfect after that finishing 1 of 7.
As a team, outside the arc, it was bad. 5 of 22 (23%) kind of bad. But they shoot well in practice. And this was against the 355th ranked team in FG% 3 point defense. Yes, Miami is dead last in the NCAA in that category. And all FSU could muster was 5 of 22. Its not like those 22 attempts were well guarded. Oh btw, Miami was worse shooting 4 of 19 (21%). I'm OK with that one too.
Up Next
Florida State heads to the Yum Center to take on the 25th ranked Louisville Cardinals (20-6, 13-2). When we last saw the Cardinals, following their loss to GT, they were busy crushing their next four opponents by an average of 19 ppg. Tip is at noon on Saturday and will be aired on the CW network.
The Good
With the win, FSU improves to 16-10 overall, 7-8 ACC. The victory guarantees the Seminoles a winning record in the regular season. In this 95th game of the rivalry, 57 have been decided by single digits. Coming into the game, FSU had won 13 of the last 14. Make that 14 of 15. Coming into the game, FSU had won 15 of the last 17. Make that 16 of 18. Coming into the game, FSU had won 8 of the last 10 in Tallahassee. Make that 9 of 11. Oh, and it was the 5th straight win over the Hurricanes. This is a rivalry? I'm OK with that BTW.
Its not how you start, but how you finish. And with FSU, that has been a scenario we have often seen this season. A slow start by the Seminoles where UM led much of the first half gave way to a late push by the 'Noles resulting in a 31-31 tie at the break. The first 11 minutes of the second period saw a continued back and forth with either team leading by one to three points. But with 9:04 to play, a Malique Ewin basket sandwiched by two three pointers by AJ Swinton gave FSU a working margin, 53-47. Miami never got within five points the remainder of the game. Key baskets, getting to the FT line, and a tough defense held off the 'Canes. Leonard Hamilton in his post game interview called it a tremendous effort by the entire team. And it was.
Player of the game clearly goes to Ewin who scored a career high 24 points and was a perfect 10 of 10 from the floor. That marked the fourth time in school history that a Florida State player has had a perfect shooting game (minimum ten attempts) and the first since January 1992 when Doug Edwards was also 10 of 10 against UNC Ashville.
With his first FT at the :51 mark and the and the Seminoles leading 68-62, Jamir Watkins reached 1,500 career points. Watkins finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds. It was not an especially good shooting night for him however connecting on just 2 of 12 shots. It was his ability to get to the stripe and convert those ops, 11-14, that helped carry the 'Noles to the win. In the last 2:09, Watkins connected on 6 of his 8 attempts.
Taylor Bol Bowen tying a career for the fourth time with four blocked shots. I could have sworn he had five.
Chandler Jackson who made his presence known on offense with 11 points by playing downhill.
Justin Thomas who missed all four of his shots, but recorded three assists and generally was a pest defensively out there to the Hurricanes.
12 .......... as in 12 steals leading to 16 turnovers by Miami.
The defense on Matthew Cleveland (who was booed early and often by the student section) holding him to 14 points on 3-13 from the floor. He was averaging just over 24 ppg his previous five games. Credit Watkins for a lot of that.
Plays of the game. Ewin is hemmed in under the basket by two Miami defenders. His adept footwork saw him pivot and twist finding an opening a flipping the ball in, 26-27. Ewin with the dribble drive from above the key showing he can go left and laid the ball in uncontested, 33-33. Alier Maluk with the steal and two offensive rebounds of his own shot floating the ball in all on the same possession, 40-39. UM player Austin Swartz and his his bullet pass .......... right to the referee standing OB. Swinton with the open look three, 48-45, with Jackson on the assist. Bol Bowen with the offensive rebound off a missed Ewin FT getting the ball to an open (again) on the left wing (again) Swinton for the three, 53-47. Thomas breaking the press and lobbing the ball to Ewin for the slam dunk with 23 seconds left, 73-66, and making it a three possession game.
The Bad
Miami adeptly manipulated FSU's switching defense and early on managed to get a favorable matchup with Dequan Davis guarding players who had distinct a height advantage. Adjustments were made and Miami was no where near as successful.
It was looking like a repeat of FSU's debacle against Clemson in the area of dishing the ball. For a long time the Seminoles had zero (not to be confused with Zero Mostel) assists and ended the half with just four.
ESPN and its box score that showed Thomas with seven, yes seven, personal fouls. They did correct that later on.
The Ugly
On man, it was looking real bad for Watkins outside the arc as he missed his first six three pointers. He was perfect after that finishing 1 of 7.
As a team, outside the arc, it was bad. 5 of 22 (23%) kind of bad. But they shoot well in practice. And this was against the 355th ranked team in FG% 3 point defense. Yes, Miami is dead last in the NCAA in that category. And all FSU could muster was 5 of 22. Its not like those 22 attempts were well guarded. Oh btw, Miami was worse shooting 4 of 19 (21%). I'm OK with that one too.
Up Next
Florida State heads to the Yum Center to take on the 25th ranked Louisville Cardinals (20-6, 13-2). When we last saw the Cardinals, following their loss to GT, they were busy crushing their next four opponents by an average of 19 ppg. Tip is at noon on Saturday and will be aired on the CW network.
