FSU outshoots Miami

Two-game win streak ends for Hurricanes

The Seminoles pummel the Hurricanes, 75-57.

CORAL GABLES — More than once once this season, the Hurricanes have struggled in winnable games.

At Duke, Miami dominated in the first half before falling apart in the second. Against Notre Dame, late turnovers proved costly. Against Florida State on this night, another ugly second half proved costly.

The Hurricanes men’s basketball team, fresh off its upset of then-No. 9 North Carolina entered Wednesday’s matchup against the rival Seminoles looking for another resumebuilding win against another ranked opponent. But after keeping pace with No. 15 FSU for a half, the Seminoles used their size and solid defense to wear down the inconsistent Hurricanes, clinching a 75-57 win over Miami that snapped a two-game losing streak and gave the Seminoles their first win at Miami since January 2014.

Freshman Jonathan Isaac and sophomore Dwayne Bacon each had 15 points to lead four Seminoles in double figures while Xavier-Rathan Mayes — who two years ago scored 30 points in four minutes during a loss to Miami on this same floor

— had another strong game in South Florida, finishing with 13 points. The Hurricanes, meanwhile, were led by freshman Bruce Brown, who had a game-high 17 points, while Ja’Quan Newton and Davon Reed each had 12 points for Miami.

The loss, which snapped Miami’s two-game ACC win streak, was eerily similar to one the Hurricanes played at Cameron Indoor Arena just 10 days ago.

There, the Hurricanes played an impressive opening 20 minutes against Duke and took a lead into the locker room at half, before they were dominated by the Blue Devils late in an eventual 70-58 loss.

This time, Miami — again — played well against a ranked opponent early, then saw that opponent dominate the opening minutes of the second half with a run that made all the difference.

Florida State, which came in looking to snap a two-game road losing streak, opened the second half on 16-2 run that helped them build a 47-36 lead. During that stretch, Miami went more than six minutes without a score and though the Hurricanes would rally and pull within six on a dunk by Davon Reed with 9:44 left, Florida State quickly answered with back-to-back scoring possessions from Isaac.

The Hurricanes (14-7, 4-5) wouldn’t come close again.

Early, though, things were different.

While the Seminoles (19-4, 7-3) entered Wednesday’s matchup with more size and well ahead of Miami in the ACC standings, the two teams looked every bit like the two evenlymatched rivals the Hurricanes expected they’d be in the early going.

In the opening minutes, the two teams traded basket for basket, free throw for free throw, with Miami finding ways to break through a solid Florida State defense.

It wasn’t until late in the half, that the Hurricanes pulled away just a bit, going on a 12-2 run that gave them a 28-22 lead after Newton connected on a pair of free throws.

The Hurricanes, one of the poorer free-throw shooting teams in the ACC, converted on 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the first half, one of the reasons they took a 34-30 lead in to halftime.

But that lead was short lived and the Seminoles, reeling after a pair of losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse knocked them out of the top 10 of the AP Top 25, dominated, using their size to outscore Miami 36-28 in the paint and using a smothering defense to collect 11 steals in the win.