Florida State’s productive National Signing Day wasn’t confined to college football’s recruiting trail. Against rival Miami on the hardwood Wednesday night, the No. 15 Seminoles used a huge second half to run away from the Hurricanes in Coral Gables, 75-57.
FSU (19-4, 7-3 ACC) avoided another horrendous start, but still found itself down seven with less than a minute to play in the first half. A Jarquez Smith free throw and a 3-pointer from Xavier Rathan-Mayes cut the Miami lead to 34-31 at halftime and began what would be a 46-17 spurt for the Seminoles, who wound up running the Hurricanes out of the building.
A pair of free throws by Michael Ojo with 17:41 to play in the game put FSU ahead for good. Less than four minutes later, the lead for Florida State had ballooned to double-digits.
Dwayne Bacon and Jonathan Isaac each scored 15 points to pace Florida State. Isaac fell short of his fifth double-double in six games, but still grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and tied Ojo with a game-high three steals. Rathan-Mayes added 13 points and a game-high four assists. Terance Mann finished with 11 points in the win.
It was an all-around efficient offensive night for the Seminoles, who shot 52 percent from the field for the night and 60 percent in the second half. FSU also limited its turnover count to nine.
Miami (14-7, 4-5) on the other hand shot 45 percent for the night, but just 8-for-29 or less than 28 percent in the second half. The Hurricanes turned the ball over 14 times and were outrebounded by the Seminoles, 27-26.
Miami freshman Bruce Brown led all scorers with 17 points. Ja’Quan Newton and Davon Reed each added 12 in the loss.
It looked as though Miami might make things interesting midway through the second half. Back-to-back baskets by Newton and Reed cut the FSU lead to 51-44 with under 10 minutes to play, but that’s as close as the Hurricanes would get. FSU responded with a 22-7 run to ultimately cruise to victory and snap a 2-game losing streak.
After three straight road games, Florida State will return home on Sunday to face Clemson. Miami will hit the road to face N.C. State on Saturday.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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