Malique Ewin dominates as FSU Basketball completes season sweep of Miami, 74-66

Coach Hamilton gets one last win against his former team.

Austin Veazey | Feb 19, 2025

Feb 19, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes guard Matthew Cleveland (0) fights for possession against Florida State Seminoles forward Jamir Watkins (1) during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

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Florida State hosted Miami on Wednesday night, the final game of the season series between the two. FSU won the first matchup in Coral Gables 80-65, but Miami had been playing better recently before this game, and Matthew Cleveland was still looking for revenge against his former team.

Miami had the lead for most of the first half as Jamir Watkins was struggling early for the Seminoles. Once Watkins got on the board with four straight free throws, FSU took a brief 12-11 lead, but Miami responded with a 7-0 run to retake the lead. Cleveland and Watkins were both struggling to score from the floor, but that changed once Watkins hit a stepback three to tie the game at 24 and Cleveland responded with a three on the other end to give the 'Canes the lead again.

But a 6-0 run by the Seminoles gave them a lead for about 1:20 near the end of the half, including one of the toughest tip-in baskets you'll ever see from Taylor Bol Bowen. But Miami would fight back to tie the game at 31 at halftime. Both offenses were struggling to score, especially from the three-point line.

Florida State Seminoles forward Malique Ewin (12) makes a reverse lay up during the first half against the Miami Hurricanes at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Miami took the one-possession lead early in the second half, but Malique Ewin helped stabilize FSU's offense early. He had a nice bounce pass to Chandler Jackson for an easy layup, which kicked off a 9-2 run, giving the Seminoles a brief 4-point lead.

The Hurricanes would tie the game again, but Florida State took off from there, starting with AJ Swinton hitting two three-pointers in less than a minute and Malique Ewin showing some fancy footwork under the basket. That gave FSU their largest lead of the game at eight points.

Ewin was just downright dominant in the second half, scoring 10 of FSU's 13 points around the under-eight timeout. But despite his phenomenal play, they weren't in the clear yet, as Austin Swartz hit a three to cut the lead to five at the final media timeout.

Jamir Watkins put his head down to get to the free-throw line after that, getting to the stripe on three straight possessions to keep the lead at seven, and Miami had a few bad turnovers to keep them from getting any shots up. Trying to salt the game away, FSU turned it over, and Miami had a fastbreak layup to bring the lead down to five in the final minute. The Seminoles have had a few late-game collapses this season and were looking to avoid another.

Watkins would hit a couple of free throws before Miami tipped in a bucket to get the lead down to five again. But the lead would never get closer than that as Florida State would go on to win 74-66.

Malique Ewin dominated, putting up 24 points on a perfect 10/10 from the floor, plus 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Jamir Watkins had 16 points and 8 rebounds, going 11/14 from the free-throw line, while Chandler Jackson had 11 points on his 21st birthday.

Lynn Kidd and Matthew Cleveland each had 14 points to lead Miami, but Cleveland shot just 3/14 from the floor as he finishes his career 0-4 against his former team, barring a meeting in the ACC Tournament (Miami may not qualify for it). Miami also had 16 turnovers in this game, their most in ACC play.

Leonard Hamilton gets one last win against the team he spent a decade at and has now beaten the Hurricanes 14 of the last 15 games. Overall, he ends up 32-14 against Miami in his tenure at Florida State.

Florida State travels to face Louisville on Saturday. The Cardinals have been rolling recently, winning 14 of their last 15, and they'll have had a week off to prepare for the Seminoles.

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