Listen, I’m as stunned as anyone. Florida State was down 50-25 late in the first half, and entered the break down 23 points. Everyone expected them to just roll over and let Miami continue to steamroll them.
Something… strange… happened though. FSU started slowly chipping away in the second half. At the under-16 timeout, the lead was down to 16. At the under-12, it was 10. At the under-8, it was just a 2 point game, as FSU was on a 35-14 run over the first 12 minutes of the half. From there it was a great back and forth affair, with neither team taking a lead larger than 4 points. FSU didn’t have their first lead until the 5:56 mark on a Caleb Mills layup, who was huge down the stretch.
The last 40 seconds can only be described as chaos. Better to just show than tell.
Florida State came back from 25 points down to beat 13th-ranked Miami, having entered the game 8-20. It’s as improbable as it gets, and was the largest comeback in ACC History. On the back of a Matthew Cleveland buzzer beater, FSU has won five straight against the Hurricanes in Coral Gables, and ends Miami’s chances of a perfect home record this season. Just look at this win probability, it’s hysterical.
This season hasn’t been fun. The first half of this game wasn’t fun. The second half? Insane. Unreal. Improbable. Whatever word you wanna use. The Seminoles shot 67.7% (!!!) from the floor in the second half. Florida State gave us one really good moment to look back on for this season.
There was a lot of winning basketball played in this one. Darin Green Jr finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals, and was getting it done inside the arc mainly, just 3/10 from 3. Those 4 steals were one short of a career-high for him that he set against Boston College last weekend.
Matthew Cleveland also finished with 20 points and 5 rebounds, but no points were bigger than the last 3. Shades of Virginia. I honestly didn’t know if he’d play again this season with the back spasms. There’s not really anything to play for at this point other than pride, and he showed he’s still got something to fight for in this one.
Caleb Mills had 13 points and 5 assists, with some big layups down the stretch. His floater high off the glass in the last minute is one of the craziest shots I’ve ever seen fall. You also have to appreciate his reliability from the free throw line. As a team, they shot 12/14 from the free throw line, and 12 of those attempts came in the second half.
Jalen Warley had a great game too. 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 0 turnovers. This is the player Florida State envisioned he could be, and maybe he surprises some people and continues this type of play these last few games.
Last notable mention goes to Chandler Jackson, who finished with 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and just 1 turnover. When your guards (including Mills) combine for 12 assists and 3 turnovers, that’s exactly the production you want.
Jordan Miller led the way for Miami with 21 points. Isaiah Wong didn’t have the ball in his hands as much as you’d expect, but still found a way to get to 14 points. They were hurt big time by Nijel Pack not playing.
Florida State has a quick turnaround to play UNC at home Monday night at 7pm for the final home game of the season.
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