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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland made a well-contested 3-point shot at the buzzer to give Florida State an 85-84 win over Miami after being down by 25 points in the first half. Cleveland’s heroics came directly after a Jordan Miller 3-point shot off of an inbound play that gave the Hurricanes an 84-82 lead. Cleveland then inbounded the ball to guard Jalen Warley and got the ball back as he crossed halfcourt before launching his second career buzzer-beating 3-point game-winning shot. The sophomore also beat Virginia on a nearly-identical shot in Charlottesville during his freshman season.
The Seminoles’ 25-point comeback is the largest in the history of the storied Atlantic Coast Conference. The Seminoles trailed by 25 — 50-25 — after Jordan Miller made a free throw to extend the Hurricanes’ lead. From that point on, the Seminoles outscored Miami on its home court by a 60-34 margin (6-4 to close the first half and 54-30 in the second half to gain the improbable victory. The Seminoles committed one second half turnover, shot .667 percent from the field (21 of 31) and .833 from the free throw line (10 of 12) to earn their fifth consecutive win on Miami’s home court.
Although the Seminoles struggled in the first half, they came out with a game-changing momentum to start the second half as they scored 13 points against the Hurricanes’ one point over a span of three minutes. Florida State made each of its seven field goals in the opening minutes to come within 12 points of Miami.
The matchup took an advantageous turn for the Seminoles halfway through the second half, as Florida State went on another 11-0 scoring run over four minutes to narrow the score to 68-66, with Miami still leading by two points.
Green Jr. and Caleb Mills combined for three made free throws and a layup to give the Seminoles their first lead of the game, 71-70.
During the remaining six minutes of the game, the score switched between the two teams a total of 10 times. What looked like to be a late Miami victory turned out to be a groundbreaking win for the Seminoles as Cleveland took the final shot of the game from beyond the arc to make a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
In the second half alone, Florida State outscored the Hurricanes 54-30 with 18 of the Seminoles’ points coming from Matthew Cleveland.
Florida State had a .524 (33-63) shooting percentage from the field, a .350 (7-20) shooting percentage from beyond the arc, and shot 12-14 (.857) from the free throw line. Three Seminoles shot a perfect three for three from the charity stripe; Warley, Darin Green Jr., and Matthew Cleveland.
With 10 steals against Miami, this marked the sixth time this season they have totaled 10 or more steals in a game.
Chandler Jackson tied his career high with 10 points against the Hurricanes. With Jacksons’ two assists in tonight’s game, he earned his ninth consecutive game totaling at least one assist. Warley also tied his career high with seven rebounds.
The Seminoles will return home to the Donald L. Tucker Center for their final home game of the season on February 27th, facing off against the North Carolina Tar Heels with tip off at 7:00pm ET. The game will be televised on ESPN.
