FSU Rolls Miami, Completes Season Sweep

It was domination from the start at the Watsco Center on Sunday night as Florida State defeated Miami for its first road win in ACC play and to complete the season sweep over its rivals, 78-66.

FSU (15-5, 3-4 ACC) raced to a 12-3 lead, thanks to a hot start from center Christ Koumadje and a couple of early 3-pointers from P.J. Savoy. Miami would get as close as three from there before FSU scored 15 straight points late in the half and held a 45-28 advantage at the break.

In the second half, the Hurricanes (9-10, 1-6 ACC) would get as close as 11, but that wasn’t until the final two minutes. The Seminoles made a season-high 12 3-pointers with half of those coming from M.J. Walker. Walker set a new career-high with six 3s made and missed just once from beyond the arc. As a team, FSU shot 12-for-20 from deep and 56 percent from the field.

Walker’s 22 points led all scorers while Mfiondu Kabengele added 17 points and six rebounds. Terance Mann finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Koumadje had nine points before being ejected late on a questionable call.

Zach Johnson paced Miami with 20 points in a losing effort Sunday on 8-for-12 shooting. Sam Waardenburg made all four of his field goal attempts and finished with 13 points. Dejan Vasiljevic scored 12 points while Anthony Lawrence added 11 to go with seven rebounds and four assists.

FSU will get an extended rest as it doesn’t return to action until next Saturday at home against Georgia Tech. Miami remains home to face Virginia Tech on Wednesday.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson