Epic Miami basketball comeback falls short versus Florida State
An epic comeback by the Miami basketball team fell just short in a 61-60 loss to Florida State on Saturday. Miami trailed 43-19 at halftime and Florida State stretched the lead to 45-19 with the first basket of the second half. An Isaiah Wong jump shot at the buzzer missed and Florida State escaped with the victory.
Wong scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half. Miami closed the game on an 8-0 run but it was not enough. The Hurricanes were abysmal in the first half. Miami shot 26.1 percent from the floor and made only one of their 12 three-point attempts. Florida State shot 56.3 percent in the first half and made 3-6 three-point attempts.
Miami shot 37 percent in the second half and made six of their 13 three-point attempts. The Hurricanes forced Florida State into 15 of their 17 turnovers in the second half. Miami outscored Florida State 41-18 in the second half but was unable to complete the comeback. The Hurricanes drop to 14-5 overall and 6-2 in the ACC.
Wong led Miami with 22 points. Kameron McGusty and Charlie Moore each finished with 12 points. Caleb Mills led Florida State with 16 points and Anthony Polite finished with 15. Miami was outrebounded 39 to 27. Florida State had an 11 to eight offensive rebound advantage. FSU had three offensive rebounds on one possession.
Florida State took possession with 3:52 remaining after Wong missed a three-point shot. After the three offensive rebounds, Mills scored on a layup with 2:43 remaining. That took away three potential offensive possessions for Miami. Coming down the stretch that increased the importance of every possession.
Miami scored on its three successive possessions. Wong made a layup to cut the deficit to seven. On the next possession, Wong made a three-point shot and was fouled. Wong made the free throw for his second four-point play of the second half. Miami took over down three after Polite missed the front end of a one and one.
Wong completed an alley-oop to Sam Waardenburg to get the Miami basketball team within 61-60 with 39 seconds remaining. Miami had a chance to win after forcing a Florida State shot clock violation before Wong missed at the buzzer. Florida State improved to 13-5 overall and seizes first place in the ACC at 6-2.
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Miami goes on the road to finish January. The Hurricanes play at Virginia Tech on Wednesday and Georgia Tech on January 29. Miami returns home to play Notre Dame on February 2. The Hurricanes are still in the race to win the regular-season title in the ACC. Miami and FSU are tied at 6-2 with the Seminoles holding the tiebreaker.