Miami basketball comeback falls short versus Florida State
The Miami basketball team fell behind by 16 early in the second half before rallying to cut the deficit to two multiple times before losing 84-75 to Florida State on Wednesday night. Florida State won its sixth straight game at the Watsco Center.
Florida State dominated the first half and took a 45-35 halftime lead. Miami shot 41.9 percent in the first half and made just two of their 14 three-point attempts. Miami falls to 12-5 overall with the loss and 3-3 in the ACC. Four Hurricanes finished in double figures. Matthew Cleveland finished two points and two rebounds.
Cleveland was playing against Florida State for the first time since transferring to Miami from Tallahassee after the 2022-23 season. Cleveland was 1-8 from the floor and missed all three of his three-point attempts. Miami was led by Nijel Pack with 19. Pack was 8-17 from the floor, but just 3-11 on three-point attempts.
Norchad Omier had 15 points and 15 rebounds and Wooga Poplar had 15 and six. Omier missed two free throws with 1:58 remaining and Miami trailing 81-75. Florida State closed the scoring with three free throws and Miami didn't foul in the last minute. Miami was fortunate to get back in the game.
75. 2306. Final. 84. 435. Florida State 84 Miami 75
Florida State had a 21-12 advantage in second-chance points, 40-14 in bench points and 52-34 in points in the paint. Florida State's length and bench were the difference in the game. Six Seminoles finished in double figures. Cameron Corhen came off the bench to score 16 points on 7-7 from the floor.
Primo Spears also scored 16 points off the bench for the Seminoles. Florida State received only 44 points from its starters. Kyhsawn George finished with nine points for Miami off the bench. Miami ranks 341st nationally out of 351 Divison I teams, averaging 12.19 bench points this season.
Next. Matthew Cleveland putting up efficient numbers for Miami basketball. Matthew Cleveland putting up efficient numbers for Miami. dark
The loss to Florida State was the second bad one for Miami in a week. Florida State was a quad-three loss for Miami after a quad-four defeat to Louisville last week. Miami will head back to the road on Saturday at Syracuse. Syracuse won 69-59 at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night to improve to 13-5.