Florida State freshman Matthew Cleveland reflects on game-winning buzzer beater against Virginia
Florida State freshman Matthew Cleveland had a game to remember on Saturday, as the freshman star helped the Seminoles beat the Virginia Cavaliers, 64-63, in unlikely fashion.
Cleveland, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound small forward from Atlanta, GA is averaging 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest, but he erupted for 20 points on 8-of-14 from the field on Saturday, marking just the second time in his young career that he’s broken the 20-point mark in a game. Cleveland hit just one three-point shot in the narrow victory, but it happened to be perhaps the greatest buzzer-beating shot of the season. With just one second on the clock and Florida State trailing by two on the road, the Seminoles heaved a full-court inbounds pass to Cleveland, and the freshman managed to catch and shoot without taking more than a few tenths of a second off the clock.
Cleveland got it up in time. And he got it to fall, too.
But according to Cleveland, he wasn’t all that confident when he got the shot off, unsure if he’d put too much on it.
“I didn’t know it was good (the second it left my hands). I got the pass, turned, shot it — I either knew it was good or it was long. So, I’m just glad it went in,” Cleveland said, after he scored 10 of Florida State’s last 15 points to bring the Seminoles to a comeback win. “I got the green light to go make a play. He said, ‘If you want, we’re down two, you can take it.’ So, just the green light from my other teammates, it really gave me the confidence to shoot it and get us to win down there.”
The buzzer-beater gives Florida State one of their biggest wins in what has otherwise been a very disappointing season for the Seminoles. Florida State has dealt with numerous injuries on their roster, depleting the team down the stretch. For Virginia, on the other hand, a loss to Florida State means the Cavaliers are no longer in the running for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament; should Virginia make the NCAA Tournament, it will have to win the ACC Tournament in extremely unlikely fashion, earning an auto bid.
The Cavaliers had played themselves near the bubble recently by sweeping the Miami Hurricanes and stunning the Duke Blue Devils, 69-68 in Durham. Virginia currently sits at 17-12 overall on the season, including 11-8 in the ACC. Now, their only hope of making it to the big dance is winning the ACC Tournament. Otherwise, they’re heading for the NIT.
Florida State has had a knack for hitting game-winners in John Paul Jones Arena in years past. On Dec. 31, 2016, Dwayne Bacon delivered a game-winning dagger against the Cavaliers with two seconds left to lift Florida State to victory.
Before Cleveland hit his miraculous buzzer beater, Virginia’s Armaan Franklin nailed a shot from just beyond the free throw line that put the Cavaliers up 63-61 with one second left, making Florida State’s game-winner even more unlikely.