ACC Basketball: Florida State takes care of Miami at home
By Dalton Pence
No. 15 Florida State gets back on track with an ACC basketball win against Miami, 66-57, in Tallahassee.
Fortunately for head coach Leonard Hamilton, the Florida State Seminoles got a much-needed win against a very hot Miami team, who had won five out of their last six games.
Related Story: Louisville edges ND behind huge second half
Dwayne Bacon led the way for Florida State with 23 points (8-of-17 from the field) while senior Jarquez Smith was the only other double-digit scorer on the team with 11. Top freshman big man Jonathan Isaac scored a season-low two points after missing all of his three field goal attempts.
Miami, on the other hand, was led by Davon Reed (22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc and 6-of-6 for the line). Bruce Brown added 10 while Dejan Vasiljevic scored nine.
Florida State came out victorious even though they shot 21.1 percent from three (4-of-19) compared to Miami’s 47.1 percent (8-of-17). The Seminoles end the season at 24-7 (12-6 ACC) and the Hurricanes wrap up at 20-10 (10-8 ACC). Coach Hamilton’s team has locked up the two seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament, giving themselves a double-bye.
Florida State out-rebounded Miami by seven (34-27), but had 11 offensive rebounds. They also turned the ball over four more times than the Hurricanes. Rebounds proved to be the key statistic in a matchup that was pretty even in other senses of the game.
Next: Player of the Year power rankings (Final Edition)
Home-court proved to be advantageous for Florida State, though. As mentioned previously, Isaac did not have a good game by any means, but Bacon picked up for Isaac’s lacking play and led the way. Reed kept Miami in the game with his hot hand, but in the end, the offensive boards given up by the Hurricanes was the dagger.