Hurricanes edge Seminoles
Lykes helps UM knock out Florida State
CORAL GABLES — After a tough six-game month-long road trip that featured disheartening losses to New Mexico State and Georgia Tech, the Hurricanes returned home Sunday needing a spark.
And against one of their biggest rivals, they ended up getting it from a somewhat unlikely source — dynamic 5-foot-7 freshman Chris Lykes.
The guard, who came off the bench for the Hurricanes, more than held his own against a tall Florida State lineup that features seven players who stand at least 6-foot-8. Lykes scored a career-high 18 points, helping lead No. 15 Miami to a much-needed 80-74 win over the 24th-ranked Seminoles.
The win keeps the Hurricanes (13-2, 2-1 ACC) unbeaten on their home floor at the Watsco Center this season, with Miami now winning 33 of its last 34 games at home.
Two of Miami’s sophomores — Bruce Brown and Dewan Huell — put together impressive performances too. Brown had a game-high 23 points and Huell added 20 to help the Hurricanes hold off the Seminoles, who put together a late run but ultimately couldn’t overcome what was at one point a 16-point second-half Miami lead.
And Lykes, who played a season-high 25 minutes, was a big reason why.
“Amazing performance tonight,” Huell said of Lykes.
“I told everybody before the season, don’t sleep on him,” added Brown.
Veteran Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton raved about Lykes as well, calling the freshman “fearless” and “explosive,” traits the guard showed after taking a hit to the face while driving to the basket. Lykes left the game briefly but returned to continue his effort.
“I got hit in the nose and couldn’t breathe through my nose for a minute,” Lykes said. “Our trainers do a good job and they told me I was good to go, so I went back in the game.”
And this game, this performance, was just what the Hurricanes wanted after their brutally long road trip, which ended Wednesday with an ugly 10-point loss to a Georgia Tech team that entered the game with a sub-.500 record.
Early against the Seminoles, Miami looked more like the team that achieved the program’s highest-ever December ranking and less like a group that was struggling on offense and couldn’t find any chemistry.
The Hurricanes, who shot just 37.5 percent in their loss to the Yellow Jackets, seemingly couldn’t miss early against the Seminoles, hitting on 13 of their first 14 shots to build a 31-22 lead midway through the first half.
“I told our team, the team that was in Atlanta the other night wouldn’t show up today. That team wasn’t going to come out of the locker room,” Hamilton said.
“I knew that team was probably still going to be in Atlanta. They were going to come out today and be at their very, very best today and I thought that’s what they did.”
That lead grew to 55-39 early in the second half, before Florida State eventually began chipping away, with Mfiondu Kabengele hitting a layup with 5:08 left that cut the margin to eight.
Minutes later, Phil Cofer hit on a 3-pointer that cut the Miami lead to 71-66 before the Hurricanes were able to close it out. With Florida State (12-3, 1-2) forced to foul in an effort to stop the clock, Brown connected on 5-of-6 free throws in the final 44 seconds to give Miami breathing room.
Brown, who came into the game shooting just 55 percent from the line, was 12-of-14 there against the Seminoles.
“I feel great. We won and that’s the main thing. That’s not [about] me playing well, it’s me being a leader out there and trying to help my team win,” Brown said.
“I think I’m a really good free throw shooter. It just didn’t show at the beginning of the year. So now, I know I can knock them down. I put in a little more effort, work during practice and after practice.”