Malik Reneau (left) led the University of Miami with 23 points and 12 rebounds in an 83-73 win over FSU on the road Feb. 24, 2026 at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla.
Melina Myers
Imagn Images/Field Level Media
Malik Reneau racked up his eighth double-double of the season and Tre Donaldson tallied 21 points in his hometown to help Miami avenge its earlier rivalry loss with an 83-73 defeat of Florida State on Tuesday night in Tallahassee.
Miami snapped a six-game losing streak against the Seminoles, who had beaten the Hurricanes 15 of their past 16 games.
Reneau finished with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 12 rebounds. He had 15 points and eight boards in the second half. Donaldson scored 15 of his points after halftime as well, adding six assists and six rebounds for the Hurricanes (22-6, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won seven of their last nine.
Tru Washington added 11 points and seven rebounds and Shelton Henderson chipped in 10 and six. Henderson briefly left the game with an apparent knee injury with four minutes remaining, but he returned and played the rest of the night. Ernest Udeh, Jr., played a key role with seven points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
“With a rivalry game there are always a lot of emotions, and we had a player [Donaldson] who was back home for the first time, so that adds to it,” said UM coach Jai Lucas.
Donaldson was a two-sport star at Florida State University High School in Tallahassee before choosing basketball over football. He led the basketball team to the state championship under coach Charlie Ward, who won the Heisman trophy as an FSU quarterback and went on to play nine years in the NBA.
Donaldson’s mother, Stacey Symonds, was a softball star at FSU and many family members and friends were at the Tucker Center Tuesday for Tre’s homecoming.
“Tre has been one of the guys who’s carried us all year, but this is a different game,” Lucas said. “It was his first time playing at home. I’ve been in a game where I went back home to play, so I know what the emotions were. I knew it would take him time to settle. I’m glad he was able to do it and carry us down the stretch.”
The UM coaching staff also had ties with FSU. Associate head coach Charlton “CY” Young was an FSU assistant for nine years under Leonard Hamilton. Erik Pastrana and Andrew Moran are both FSU alumni.
“They just have such strong emotions for this place; there was no animosity, it was more like a homecoming for them,” Lucas said. “Eric and Moran walked through campus earlier. CY went to all his old stomping grounds. I kept Tre in the hotel so he couldn’t go anywhere. They just have good feelings about this place, and they were happy to be in Tallahassee.”
Miami held a hefty 42-23 rebounding advantage, turning 16 offensive boards — including seven by Reneau — into 25 second-chance points.
“The only thing I’m [upset] about is 18 turnovers that led to 26 points for them,” Lucas said.
Lajae Jones led the Seminoles (14-14, 7-8) with 21 points, supported by 14 points and a team-high five rebounds from Chauncey Wiggins.
Florida State was 8 of 28 (28.6%) from 3-point range, while Miami made 9 of 21 perimeter shots (42.9%).
The Hurricanes led for the majority of the first half but struggled to create real separation, never leading by more than seven.
After falling behind 23-16, the Seminoles twice cut the deficit to one point but Miami never surrendered the lead, with Washington hitting a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to give the Hurricanes a 38-32 lead at the intermission.
Washington led all scorers at the break with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-2 from outside the arc.
The Hurricanes maintained that lead well into the second half before Florida State rattled off a 13-3 run to tie the game at 57 with 7:54 left on a four-point play by Kobe MaGee.
Miami was undeterred, scoring the next five points and immediately responding with a 16-5 surge to take its biggest lead, 73-62, with 3:16 left. Reneau grabbed two offensive boards and scored five points during the early part of that sequence, and Donaldson finished it with a personal 7-0 run to effectively ice the game.
Miami returns to the Watsco Center for its penultimate home game of the regular season as the Hurricanes host Boston College on Saturday at 2 p.m.
This story was originally published February 25, 2026 at 12:59 AM.
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Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NBA Playoffs, Super Bowls and has been the soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years. She was born in Frederick, Md., and grew up in Miami.