For a second straight game, Florida State faced a big early deficit and for the second straight game, the Seminoles prevailed. FSU rallied from 16 points down in the first half on Sunday to top No. 23 Miami, 55-54, at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Florida State led 13-11 at the 12-minute mark in the first half, but Miami answered with a 19-1 run to grab a 16-point lead. A 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the first half by Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes cut the deficit to 36-25 at the break.
The Seminoles (12-10, 4-5 ACC) opened the second half on a 21-10 run and took its first lead of the game on a Rathan-Mayes layup with just over four and a half minutes to play. The game featured just two baskets from there on out.
Sheldon McClellan’s jumper with under four minutes to play put Miami up 54-53. Center Kiel Turpin put the Seminoles for good with a short jump-hook more than two minutes later.
McClellan had a chance to win the game for Miami (14-7, 4-4 ACC) in the waning seconds, but his jump-shot clanked off the rim and the ball fell to the ground as time expired.
Florida State’s Montay Brandon scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and finished a perfect 7-for-7 from the field while adding team-highs with 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Turpin scored 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting as FSU shot 54 percent from the field for the game.
McClellan knocked down three 3-pointers to pace Miami with 13 points. Davon Reed finished with 11 for the Hurricanes in the loss.
Florida State will look to get to .500 in ACC play as it concludes a 3-game home stretch against Clemson on Wednesday. Miami will look to halt a 2-game skid as it hosts No. 10 Louisville on Tuesday.
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