Florida State overpowers Miami for their fourth straight rivalry victory

In recent memory, Florida State owned this rivalry. The Seminoles won three in a row coming into tonight and seven straight dating back to the 2017-18 season. With the Hurricanes reeling after losing their coach in the middle of the season and six games under .500…

1st half:

The Seminoles fell into an early 5-0 hole with bad rotations, fouls on the defensive end, and a couple of offensive turnovers before Taylor Bol Bowen put the first points on the board in transition. The teams started playing in a track meet after Jamir Watkins’ rejection at the rim, but neither team could find the bottom of the net until Malique Ewin knocked in a layup at the 15:30 mark, drawing FSU within one. FSU quickly retook the lead after the timeout with beautiful ball movement, resulting in a Watkins three as the shot clock expired.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, with the Canes shooting 28% from the floor and the Noles not faring much better, going 5-13 when the under-12 rolled around. FSU’s horrible shooting continued after Bostyn Holt smoked a transition layup and AJ Swinton missed the follow-up dunk. Jerry Deng finally took the lid off the basket with a three but allowed an easy fast-break basket on the other end.

The Seminoles raced out to a 6-0, starting with Miami getting called for a technical foul, but again, horrible transition defense gave UM two quick baskets and brought UM within two. Once more, Leonard Hamilton’s team scored six in a row, this time from a gorgeous up-and-under move from Watkins, a drop-step from Ewin in the post, and another Watkins layup, forcing interim coach Bill Courtney to call timeout.

Miami stroked a three out of the break, but Bol Bowen made two long balls on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to nine. As FSU seemed to take control, Watkins picked up his second foul with six minutes to go in the first half, parking him on the bench.

Even with their star sitting, the Noles pulled away. Starting on the defensive end, they created four straight UM turnovers on four consecutive possessions as the ‘Canes could barely cross halfcourt without losing the ball. When the under-four came around, FSU went on a 13-0 run over 3:20, giving them a 39-23 advantage and deflating any life in the 1/2 full Watsco Center.

The final four minutes of the half turned into some of the worst basketball of the season on both sides. The comedy of errors included Miami somehow blowing a 4-on-1, Justin Thomas turning the ball over on back-to-back possessions, and FSU smoking a layup. The first half ended with Deng air balling a three from the logo, but the Noles still went into the break up 14, even though they did not score a point in the final 3:40 of the half.

Bol Bowen and Ewin led all scorers with eight, but it was a team effort to pull away from the Hurricanes. FSU grabbed seven offensive rebounds, forced eight turnovers (FSU scored nine points off TOs), and pressured Miami to go 10-30 from the floor. Although the ‘Canes are challenged offensively, Florida State still played their most cohesive and energetic defensive half of basketball since the beginning of the year.

2nd half:

Dating back to the first half, the Noles were zero for their last eight from the field, and they started the second scoreless for the first 2:30, allowing Miami to hang around with a quick 5-0 run, all scored by Matthew Cleveland. To make matters worse, Watkins quickly picked up his third foul, parking him on the bench again while compounding the offensive issues.

Hamilton called an early timeout, and Daquan Davis got FSU on the board with a nice 16-foot pullup, but again, the Noles turned the Hurricanes loose in transition after a made basket, dwindling the lead to eight. Cleveland missed a wide-open three, and then Davis drained his first triple before the freshman knocked in a layup for a quick 5-0 run of his own.

In what became a theme of the night, the Seminoles could not close the game out. Ewin committed his second foul in 90 seconds, giving UM two and-one opportunities as Miami brought the game within ten at the under-16.

Both teams came up scoreless for a couple of minutes until Cleveland drew Watkins’ fourth foul on a prayer from the logo with four seconds left on the shot clock. The two best players on FSU picked up four fouls in five minutes, but Bol Bowen bailed them out with his third triple after Cleveland went 1-3 from the line.

Those two generated the only offense for their teams over the next four minutes, with Bol Bowen getting another three to go and Cleveland drawing another foul against FSU as the Noles did not retreat on defense after a make, again. Luckily, the former FSU transfer missed five straight from the stripe while Bol Bowen banked in a layup. With 11:54 left, FSU led 54-45 but allowed Miami to hang around as the ‘Canes went four of their last four from the field, and Cleveland scored 11 points in eight minutes.

After the break, Miami continued to chip away with a three out of the break to cap off a 9-0 run before Ewin dunked it home at the end of the shot clock, but UM answered right away with an offensive rebound and basket.

In need of leadership, Chandler Jackson, the longest-tenured Seminoles, started a 7-0 run. He blocked Miami at the rim, resulting in an alley-oop, got to the free-throw line, and facilitated an offensive possession that led to a Justin Thomas triple.

With FSU back up 13 after the under-eight, Ewin drew a fourth foul on Lynn Kidd, who gave the Seminoles fits all night, before Jackson hit a baseline jumper to push the advantage. After a defensive stop, Ewin gave FSU their largest lead of the night with another drop step on the baseline and the shot clock winding down to put Florida State up 17.

To put the cherry on top, Watkins threw an alley-oop to Ewin before Davis rolled home a circus layup, putting his team up 71-51. FSU continued to pour it on, going 11 for 11 over five minutes, including back-to-back dunks from Ewin, pushing the advantage to 25.

Florida State emptied the bench with three minutes left, and the Seminoles closed the game out 80-65 for the fourth straight win over Miami.

Takeaways:

– With Watkins having an off night, the second and third-best players needed to step up, and Bol Bowen and Ewin certainly did. Bol Bowen built off his stellar night on Saturday, going 6-6 from the field, knocking down 16 points, and shooting 100% from the field. Meanwhile, Ewin had an up-and-down night in foul trouble as he picked up a foul in the first minute of each half but otherwise dominated on the offensive end. He finished with 20 points on 10-14 shooting and ten rebounds for a double-double.

– Like their game against Syracuse, FSU had an up-and-down night on the defensive end. While the Seminoles forced 13 turnovers and essentially held Miami off the offensive glass, the Hurricanes still shot 50% from the floor, often coming in spurts, but not sustained offense. Only two Miami players, Cleveland and Kidd, finished in double digits, but the Hurricanes did shoot 41% from three. UM cut the lead to six in the second half, but another 13-0 run from FSU, their second of the game, put the game to bed.

– What a long season it is going to be in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes have lost their last 14 ACC games dating back to last season and are inept on both ends of the floor. If not for the Seminoles continually falling asleep after making baskets and Cleveland drawing fouls, they generated little offense. Somehow, Miami came into tonight as 2.5-point favorites but did not hold the lead after the eight-minute mark in the first half.

– Hamilton’s team takes on Clemson in South Carolina on Saturday for their second Quad 1 opportunity of the season. With Florida State starting to find an offensive identity outside of Watkins, they should be able to hang in the game, but their lack of consistency makes it an uphill battle.