FSU Basketball Dominates Miami On the Road, 80-65

Florida State picks up their first road win of the season against a friend-turned-foe

Austin Veazey | 14 Hours Ago

Jan 8, 2025; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles guard Chandler Jackson (0) drives to the basket past Miami Hurricanes guard Jalil Bethea (3) during the first half at Watsco Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Florida State traveled to Coral Gables on Wednesday night to play Miami, with both teams looking to break some trends. Miami had lost 16 consecutive games against power conference opponents, while FSU hadn't won a road game this season entering the night. The Seminoles have dominated this series as of late, winning 12 of the last 13, and looked to continue that against a Hurricanes team in disarray.

The first 11 minutes were back and forth. Miami started up 5-0, but there would be three lead changes before the Seminoles grabbed a stranglehold of the game. A 6-0 run by Florida State gave them a 20-14 lead. Then FSU's defense ramped up the pressure on defense to go on a 17-3 run before the end of the half to go into the locker room up 39-25. It helped that Lynn Kidd and Matthew Cleveland were dealing with foul trouble, and Miami didn't have a reliable scorer on the floor with them out.

That would change in the second half, as the whistle completely flipped toward Miami. Matthew Cleveland and Lynn Kidd had 17 of Miami's first 20 points in the half as they could cut the lead to nine as Jamir Watkins picked up his fourth foul and Malique Ewin picked up his third in the first few minutes.

Taylor Bol Bowen and Daquan Davis were able to pick up the slack a little bit with Watkins and Ewin on the bench, as Bowen was hitting some threes and Davis went on a personal 7-0 run to keep the 'Canes at arm's length, but Miami was charging, and they were already in the bonus before Miami ever had a foul called on them.

A deep three by Austin Swartz cut the lead to three, and they had a chance to cut it to four. Miami had a three-on-one fastbreak, but Chandler Jackson denied Paul Djobet, which led to a three-on-one fastbreak for FSU, which they converted with a lob from Justin Thomas to Jerry Deng. A few minutes later, a Justin Thomas three pushed the lead back to 13 with a little over eight minutes to go.

That was part of an 11-0 FSU run as they ran out to a 20-point lead, 71-51, with six minutes to go. From there, they'd be able to coast to the finish, hitting timely baskets to spell any Miami momentum.

Florida State picked up their first road win of the season with a 80-65 victory over their rivals, making it 13 wins in the last 14 games in this series.

Malique Ewin played just 23 minutes due to foul trouble and still had 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the player of the game was Taylor Bol Bowen. he had 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists and was the reason FSU stayed afloat as Watkins and Ewin were on the bench. Daquan Davis had nine points and ten assists with just one turnover. Jamir Watkins had just 10 points as he also dealt with foul trouble.

Former Seminole Matthew Cleveland had 16 points on 6/12 shooting, including 3/9 shooting from the free throw line. Miami shot just 22/60 in this game, as FSU really had them in the torture chamber.

Here are three takeaways from this massive win.

1. The Others Stepping Up

Jamir Watkins and Malique Ewin dealt with foul trouble for most of the second half. But Taylor Bol Bowen and Daquan Davis stepped up when they were needed, with Davis going on a personal 7-0 run to stabilize the offense. Justin Thomas had big moments (even if they need to work on his transition offense). Chandler Jackson had a massive block. This was a stereotypical FSU win without relying on two players.

2. Suffocating Defense

Outside of the first ten minutes of the second half where the 'Canes were getting every call, Florida State's defense was awesome. They held Miami to 22/60 (36.7%) from the floor, 5/21 (23.8%) from three, and forced 13 turnovers. Miami was averaging 78.4 PPG and had just 55 points with less than three minutes to go in this game and then the backups and walk-ons checked in. FSU's defense dominated this game.

3. Winning Without Free Throws

Florida State's offensive game plan all season was pretty much just to drive to the rim, draw fouls, and shoot as many free throws as possible. But that didn't happen in this game. FSU shot just 6/11 from the free-throw line, while Miami was 16/23. And the Seminoles still basically won by 20 points. It's good to see this team win in a different way because they'll need to throughout ACC play.

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