Florida State played so, so well in the first half. Their offensive intensity was pedal to the metal, getting quite literally whatever they wanted on the interior. Norchad Omier had picked up an early foul and was doing everything he could to not pick up a second, so FSU kept putting him into ball screens and drag screens. And it was working; Cam Corhen and De'Ante Green were both in double figures early in the second half and Warley was masterful with his passes.
Miami adjusted and roared back to life, kickstarted by a technical foul on their coach, Jim Larranaga. FSU led 53-37, and next thing you know, they're hanging on to a 59-57 lead just five minutes later. It's been a trend all year that they can't hold onto these big leads, sadly. Florida State needed to start getting some stops and open its offense back up.
It was a back-and-forth basketball game over the next seven minutes. FSU would extend the lead to 5 or 7, Miami would claw it back to 2 consistently on the backs of Nijel Pack, who seemingly could not miss, and Omier. By the last media timeout, FSU had a 76-71 lead.
After some traded baskets, enter, center stage: JAMIR WATKINS.
I mean, wow, what a dunk. Reminiscent of Trent Forrest on Jordan Nwora. Game is hanging in the balance and he does THAT. Miami didn't score again after this basket, and FSU would go on to win 84-75, extending their winning streak to five in 2024, and they've won six straight games against Miami in Coral Gables.
Let's start with the funniest stat line by double-agent Matthew Cleveland: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1/8 from the floor. An abysmal showing in a game you know he wanted badly. His shot selection was so, so bad, forcing contested shots just to try and get a shot up. He was bad. No way around it. That picture of him throwing down the "U" is going to haunt him forever with performances like these.
Florida State forced Miami into a 19.4% turnover rate, a very good mark, and where FSU wants to play around. Turning those into 16 points helps a lot too. However, the paint battle was astounding, outscoring Miami 52-34 in the paint. Miami is okay allowing 2s, but that's an astronomical difference. The 'Noles also got after it on the offensive glass with 15 offensive boards turning into 21 second-chance points. That's how you win a road game.
The bigs ate for Florida State. Whatever they wanted on the interior, they got. Cameron Corhen was a perfect 7/7 for 16 points while adding three steals on the other end. He's shooting 19/25 from the floor to start the season. De'Ante Green chipped in 10 points as well.
Primo Spears had an inefficient 16 points but hit free throws and timely shots as they were needed. I don't always love him as the bailout option, but it's working right now and you can't argue with the results so far in 2024.
Jamir Watkins simply couldn't be stopped in the paint, finishing with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. His 3-point shot is still a work in progress, but he can't be stopped when he decides he's going to the basket. His dunk late in the game ended it essentially.
Some other stats to note: Taylor Bol Bowen had 4 steals and Jalen Warley had a season-high 6 assists, including this dime of a pass below.
For Miami, Nijel Pack led with 19 points, 15 of them coming in the second half. There was a stretch where he just couldn't miss and I started to get nervous. Norchad Omier had a casual 15 points and 15 rebounds, another day at the office for him. Wooga Poplar also had 15 points but led the country coming into the game in 3PT% and shot just 3/9 from deep.
Florida State will be playing Clemson at home on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. next, a team that has all of a sudden dropped 4 of its last 5 games including a 2OT loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday.
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