RECAP: FSU Basketball Completes Season Sweep of Miami With Senior Day Shootout
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It was Senior Day for Florida State on Saturday and Darin Green Jr. was letting everyone know about it. The rest of the team followed his offensive philosophy quickly.
I've never seen FSU so shot-happy from three. They had beaten the Hurricanes in January by getting to the paint, shooting free throws, and attempting a whopping 51 2-pointers. That gameplan was tossed out the window from the get-go, as the 'Noles attempted 23 3-pointers in the first half alone, which would've been their 5th highest for a GAME this year.
Florida State didn't attempt any free throws, had just 8 points off 11 Miami turnovers, and were just 8/20 on 2s, yet because they had shot so many 3s, leading to some makes, FSU entered the break up 37-32.
Matthew Cleveland had performed much better in this game than he did in January, leading the 'Canes in scoring at the half. He was (rightfully) getting booed every time he touched the basketball.
The second half was tightly contested. A clearly hobbled Wooga Poplar was making a big impact on the offensive end, finishing through traffic, but would be limping back up the floor after every landing.
Still, Florida State led the majority of the second half. Miami tied the game on four different instances and even took a lead for a brief moment with 11:34 left, but a Primo Spears rainbow from 3 put FSU back on top just a minute later. That would be part of a 12-2 run to give the 'Noles a 7-point lead with a little under 7 minutes remaining. They'd control the game the rest of the way, winning 83-75, sweeping the Hurricanes this season, and have now won 12 of the last 13 over the University of Coral Gables.
Florida State was able to force 17 turnovers but scored just 15 points off of those turnovers. If they could've been better on those turnovers, this game could've (and should've) gotten ugly. They were also outscored in the paint 40-28 by the 'Canes, not a way they've been able to win often this year.
Darin Green Jr. tied a Florida State career-high with 8 made threes on his way to 26 points. That's also tied for the third-most made 3s in FSU history (George McCloud has the record with 10 way back in 1989). He ended up 8/15 from 3, an incredible finish considering he started 2/7. A 6/8 close from 3 is pretty solid if you ask me. 33 attempts from 3 tie the team's season-high, which came in their first game this season.
Jamir Watkins was business as usual, finishing with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. That's his fourth double-double this season.
Jalen Warley was solid in this game, finishing with 13 points, as was Cam Corhen and his 10 points. Warley had some words for Matthew Cleveland after one layup, which I was particularly fond of.
Speaking of Cleveland, he'd finish with 16 points and 7 rebounds, but it's hard not to notice he transferred to a team that was in the Final Four last year just to go 0-2 against FSU this year, finished with a worse record than FSU, and ended the game on a 9-game losing streak. Very interesting, very interesting indeed.
Bensley Joseph led the 'Canes with 17 points, Norchad Omier added 16 points and 17 rebounds, and Wooga Poplar chipped in another 12.
Florida State has secured, at worst, the 9 seed in the ACC Tournament, meaning they get a bye and won't have to play until Wednesday. We'll know their seed by the end of tonight, depending on other results.
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