Florida State University Athletics
M. Basketball Defeats Georgia Tech, 75-64, To Gain Third ACC Win of Season
1/7/2023 2:55:21 PM | Men's Basketball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Matthew Cleveland earned his fifth consecutive double double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead Florida State to its third ACC win of the season with a 75-64 win over Georgia Tech at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Cleveland led three Seminoles in double figure scoring with Darin Green Jr. (18 points) and Caleb Mills (13 points) with all three scoring 13 points or more.
Saturday’s victory against Georgia Tech marked Head Coach Leonard Hamilton’s 600th career win, and 400th at Florida State. He is the active wins leader in the ACC, and only the fifth coach to win at least 400 games as an ACC head coach.
Cleveland is the first player in school history to earn five consecutive double doubles since Douglas Edwards during the 1991-92 season. He is one of three players in the Atlantic Coast Conference who is averaging a double double in ACC games.
Lance Terry scored a team-high 17 points and Miles Kelly added 16, but Georgia Tech surrendered runs of 11-0 late in the first half and 10-0 early in the second half.
Although the Yellow Jackets started off the first half with their largest lead of the game (16-7 at the 15:43 of the first half), Florida State gained momentum and closed the gap quickly. Naheem McLeod went three for three from the field, along with a three-pointer from Caleb Mills to take the lead at 36-34 with a minute remaining.
After trailing by nine (16-7) with just under five minutes played in the first half, the Seminoles led 39-36 at the intermission.
Cleveland scored 15 points in the first half, the most in a first half this season for the sophomore, shooting six for eight (.750) from the field and adding a 3-pointer and two made free throws to lead the Seminoles in scoring. His single three-pointer came in the final seconds of the first half, giving Florida State a 39-36 lead, as the Seminoles ended the half with an 11-2 scoring run.
The Seminoles further improved their game in the second half, taking advantage of Georgia Tech’s four turnovers in the early minutes of the half, resulting in a 14-2 scoring run for Florida State over nearly five minutes.
Florida State’s second-largest lead of the game came at 9:17 of the second half, leading the Yellow Jackets by 20 points, 67-47. This lead resulted from phenomenal play by Darin Green Jr. who scored 13 points over a span of 4 minutes with three made 3-pointers and two made layups.
Florida State built its lead to as many as 22 points in the second half.
The Seminoles finished with a .492 shooting percentage (30-61) from the field and shot 10 for 25 (.400) from beyond the arc. The Seminoles scored 36 points in the paint, earned seven points off the bench, and totaled 18 points off of Georgia Tech’s 13 turnovers.
Florida State travels to Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to face off against Wake Forest on Wednesday, January 11th with tip time at 9pm. The game will be televised by the ACC Network. The Seminoles hold a 29-27 winning record over the Demon Deacons.