@CanesHoops Holds Off Florida State, 67-65

No. 12/11 Miami6765Florida State

INFOGRAPHIC
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Sheldon McClellan scored 20 points and No. 12 Miami fought off a second-half rally from Florida State to win 67-65 on Sunday night.

The Hurricanes led by four with less than a minute remaining when Dwayne Bacon’s 3-pointer brought the Seminoles to 66-65. After Davon Reed missed a 3, Florida State had a chance to go ahead but Devon Bookert was short on a 3-pointer from the corner.

Ja’Quan Newton hit one of two free throws for Miami, leaving Florida State one last chance, but Malik Beasley missed a 30-footer that would have won it.

Reed had 14 points and Angel Rodriguez scored 11 for the Hurricanes (20-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who secured their fourth 20-win season in Jim Larranaga’s five years as coach.

Bookert led Florida State (16-9, 6-7) with 14 points, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes had 12. Bacon and Beasley, who came into the game averaging a combined 33.2 points as the ACC’s top freshman duo, were held to 15 — nine for Bacon.

Miami jumped out to an 11-2 lead and was up by seven before Florida State scored eight straight points — consecutive 3-pointers by Benji Bell and Terance Mann’s jumper — to take a 15-14 advantage with 10:13 remaining. After the score was tied at 17, the Hurricanes regained control with a 17-5 run and built their largest lead of the half (34-22) with 1:49 remaining.

Tonye Jekiri’s layup gave Miami its biggest lead (39-26) before Florida State started coming back. After trailing 45-36, the Seminoles made a 14-5 run to tie it at 50 on Bookert’s 3-pointer with 8:44 remaining.

Florida State, though, was never able to regain the lead.

STAT LINE

Florida State’s bench scored all but six of its 26 first-half points. Seminoles starters were 2 of 7 from the field in the first 20 minutes. … McClellan’s 3-pointer with 4:24 remaining was Miami’s last field goal of the game. The Hurricanes were 0 for 4 from the field the rest of the way and got their final four points at the line.

TIP-INS

Miami: Reed has hit 48.3 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3-point range in the past six games. The junior is averaging 12.5 points during that span. In the first six ACC games he was shooting just 37.5 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from beyond the arc while averaging 9.2 points

Florida State: Beasley’s double-figure scoring streak ended at 24 games, which is tied for the second-longest in ACC history for a player at the start of his collegiate career. Stephon Marbury has the record at 26 during the 1995-96 season at Georgia Tech, and Jahlil Okafor also had 24 last season for Duke.

UP NEXT

Miami hosts Virginia Tech on Wednesday.

Florida State hosts Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

TEAM NOTES

– With its 67-65 win over Florida State, Miami improved to 20-4 overall and 9-3 in ACC play. The victory stretched the Hurricanes’ winning streak to four consecutive games.

– The Hurricanes reached 20 victories in a season for the fourth time in Jim Larrañaga’s five years at the helm.

– With the win, Coach L improved to 581-387 overall in his 32nd season as head coach. He is 111-53 in his fifth season at the University of Miami, with a 50-32 mark in ACC play.

– Miami improved to 35-42 in the all-time series against Florida State, including an 8-28 mark on the road. The Hurricanes are now 7-4 against Florida State under Coach L.

– Miami is now 14-3 with the starting lineup of Angel Rodriguez, Sheldon McClellan, Davon Reed, Kamari Murphy and Tonye Jekiri.

– Miami held a 37-26 lead at half at the Donald Tucker Center. The Hurricanes improved to 17-1 when leading at halftime this season.

– Miami moved to 2-1 in games decided by three points-or-less.

– The Hurricanes swept the Seminoles for the third time since joining the ACC; Miami also swept Florida State during the 2004-05 and 2012-13 seasons.

– UM outrebounded Florida State 38-30, including an 11-6 advantage on the offensive glass.

– The Hurricanes held Florida State leading scorers Malik Beasley (17.2 points per game) and Dwayne Bacon (16.0) to a combined 15 points on combined 5-for-17 shooting. The freshmen duo combined for just two points on 0-for-2 shooting in the first half.

– Beasley and Bacon scored just 23 combined points on 9-for-28 shooting in the first matchup between the two teams at the BankUnited Center on Jan. 9.

– Beasley (six points) was held under 10 points for the first time in his career Sunday night.

– The Hurricanes entered the game with the 12th-best team free throw percentage in the country (76.0 percent). Miami finished the game 16-for-22 (72.7 percent) from the charity stripe, including a team-best 9-for-10 performance from McClellan.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

– Hurricanes senior Angel Rodriguez scored 11 points and posted a team-high six assists. He has dished out five-or-more assists in each of the past six games.

– Senior Sheldon McClellan posted his 21st double-digit point total of the season with 20 points. It was his 13th straight game with double-digit points, and the 11th time he has scored 20 or
more points in his Miami career.

– The Hurricanes improved to 11-0 all-time when McClellan scores 20 or more points.

– McClellan’s 20 points were two shy of his ACC season high of 22 (last vs. Georgia Tech, Feb. 7, 2016). His career high in ACC play is 24 points (vs. Boston College, Feb. 16, 2015).

– Junior Davon Reed’s 14 points marked his ninth double-digit point total in his last 13 games.

– Reed, who entered the game hitting 50.0 percent of his shots in the past five games, finished 6-for-14 (42.8 percent) from the field. He added two three-pointers in the win.

– Reed’s 14 field goal attempts were a new career high, topping his previous career high of 13 (at Wake Forest, Feb. 11, 2015).

– Junior Kamari Murphy pulled down nine rebounds, which marked a new career high in an ACC game. His previous career high was eight, last vs. Pittsburgh, Feb. 9, 2016.

– Senior Tonye Jekiri pulled down nine rebounds against the Seminoles, marking his fourth straight game with at least nine rebounds. In his last 11 games, Jekiri has pulled down at least nine rebounds nine times.

– Freshman Ebuka Izundu saw time for the second straight game after not playing in the previous six games. Senior Ivan Cruz Uceda missed his second straight game due to illness.