It’s not that the Florida State men’s basketball team gave the game away on Tuesday night against rival Miami.
The Hurricanes are a good team that has been playing very well of late. And stars Tre Donaldson and Malik Reneau were the two best players on the floor.
But the Seminoles were only 8-of-28 from 3-point range and committed an uncharacteristic 12 turnovers — many of them at critical moments — and that gave them virtually no chance at the end of the night to keep pace with the Hurricanes, who dominated the final minutes on their way to an 83-73 win.
It didn’t help matters that recently named ACC Player of the Week Robert McCray V had just nine points on 4-of-14 shooting from the floor. The senior point guard also had five turnovers to go along with his team-high six assists.
Florida State coach Luke Loucks gave much of the credit to Miami’s defense for McCray’s tough night. He said the Hurricanes pressured him with multiple defenders when he brought the ball up the court, and they swarmed him any time he tried to attack the basket.
“Once he got in the paint, they smothered him,” Loucks said. “They sent shot-blocker after shot-blocker. And as soon as he picked it up, they would play the passing lanes — all of which took him out of some rhythm.”
With the way Miami’s two stars played on Tuesday night, FSU needed more from its own star. The Seminoles did get a team-high 21 points from Lajae Jones and 14 points from Chauncey Wiggins, but it wasn’t enough against one of the top teams in the ACC.
Florida State is now 14-14 on the season and 7-8 in the ACC. Miami improves to 22-6 and 11-4.
The story, other than the sloppy play from the Seminoles at times, was the unrelenting domination on the boards by the Hurricanes. Miami, which is second in the nation in paint points and one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country as well, out-rebounded FSU 42-23.
Led by Reneau, who had seven offensive rebounds by himself, Miami was able to corral 16 offensive rebounds in total on 28 missed shots. And the Hurricanes finished with 42 points in the paint and a 25-7 edge in second-chance points.
“We lost that game because we couldn’t rebound with them,” Loucks said. “They out-rebounded us 42 to 23, 16 to 7 on the offensive glass, and scored 25 points to our seven (on second-chance points). At times we kept it close. We turned them over and converted those to points. But you can’t beat almost anyone — you definitely can’t beat talented top-30, top-40 teams in the country — if that’s the rebounding margin. Impossible.”
Still, even with all those numbers, Florida State was right in the game.
The Seminoles went on a 13-3 run in the second half, culminating with a Kobe MaGee four-point play, to tie the game at 57 with 7:54 left. But Reneau scored on the next possession, grabbing an offensive rebound and converting a three-point play, and the Seminoles never got any closer.
Tallahassee native Tre Donaldson finished with 21 points and six assists and Reneau had a game-high 23 and 11 rebounds as the Hurricanes survived a couple of second-half runs by the Seminoles to finish off the 10-point win and even the season series at 1-1.
UM’s win avenged a Florida State victory in Coral Gables earlier this season, and it marked the Hurricanes’ second win against FSU in the last 17 meetings between the two schools.
The Seminoles play again on Saturday at noon at Georgia Tech.
Box Score: Miami 83, FSU 73
Florida State forward Lajae Jones drives in for a layup Tuesday night against Miami. (Melina Myers/Imagn Images)
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