It was neither pretty nor easy, but No. 13 Florida State remained undefeated at the Donald L. Tucker Center and notched its first ACC win on Wednesday night. The Seminoles held off a late surge from Miami to beat their rivals for a fourth time in five tries, 68-62.
FSU (13-2, 1-1 ACC) led by 13 with just over six minutes to play before Zach Johnson served as the catalyst for a late Miami run. Johnson scored five points for Miami during a late 8-0 surge to cut the lead to 64-62 with under a minute to play.
With less than 30 seconds to play, Terance Mann came through with a big basket off an offensive rebound to extend the lead to four. A pair of M.J. Walker free throws and three straight defensive stops sealed the game for FSU.
Miami (8-7, 0-3 ACC) used the free throw to stay in the game, going 18-for-22 from the charity stripe to just 8-for-13 for FSU. The Hurricanes managed just seven field goals in the first half, but were within four at the break, 33-29.
Miami opened the second half on an 11-4 run to take a 40-37 lead, but a leaner from David Nichols with 12:31 to play gave FSU a lead it would not relinquish. Florida State shot 42 percent from the field to 37 for Miami and held a healthy 38-31 advantage on the glass. FSU also shot better from deep and won the turnover battle.
Nichols paced FSU with 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting and three assists. P.J. Savoy was the only other FSU player in double-figures with 10 points. Mann and Mfiondu Kabengele each finished with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. Kabengele fouled out.
Miami guard Chris Lykes led all scorers with 17 points while Anthony Lawrence added 14 for the Hurricanes. Ebuka Izundu shot 6-for-10 on the night, finishing with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
FSU will remain home and hopes to make a major statement on Saturday against No. 1 Duke. Miami returns home to face Wake Forest on Saturday.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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