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Florida State pulls off all-time stunner as Matthew Cleveland buries game-winner at Miami

On3 imageby: Corey Clark02/25/23Corey_Clark
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Florida State guard Matthew Cleveland looks to shoot Saturday at Miami. (Courtesy of FSU Sports Information)

The game felt over.

To everyone.

Instead, the Florida State men’s basketball team pulled off maybe the most unbelievable win in program history on Saturday in Coral Gables.

Trailing No. 13 Miami by 23 points at halftime, and by 25 early in the second period, the Seminoles stormed back in the final 20 minutes to make it a game. And then sophomore Matthew Cleveland delivered the second game-winning buzzer-beater of his career, a 30-foot 3-pointer, for a stunning 85-84 win over the No. 13 Hurricanes.

It was the largest comeback win in Division-I basketball this season, and it came immediately after Miami star Jordan Miller buried an open 3-pointer with 5 seconds left to give the Hurricanes the lead.

Cleveland, who had a buzzer-beating 3-pointer last year at Virginia, wound up scoring 18 of his 20 points in the second half.

It was a half that was, by far, the best of the season for the Seminoles, who are now 9-20 on the season and 7-12 in the ACC.

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Florida State had 34 points in the paint in the second half as Cleveland and Caleb Mills (13 points) continually attacked the basket. Miami, meanwhile, after hitting just about everything it shot in the first half, struggled immensely in the second half offensively.

Florida State’s pressure defense forced turnovers and rushed shots, and got the Seminoles out in transition. Mills, Cleveland and Darin Green Jr. combined to score 39 of FSU’s 54 second-half points. The Seminoles shot 68 percent from the field in the second half, including a stunning 19-of-25 from 2-point range.

Which is how a team that has lost so much this season found a way to win a game that seemed unwinnable.

Using a 26-8 run over the final 7:28 of the first half, with many of those buckets coming on breakaway layups and dunks, Miami rolled to a 54-31 halftime lead.

It was the second straight game in which the Seminoles allowed the Hurricanes to score 54 first-half points. Miami shot 66 percent from the field in the first half against an FSU defense that seemed to have absolutely no answers.

Florida State also turned it over 10 times in the first half on Saturday, which resulted in 16 Miami points. The Hurricanes also had an 18-0 edge in fastbreak points in the first 20 minutes, despite playing without starting guard Nigel Pack.

The second half, of course, was a completely different script.

Florida State had 10 points off Miami turnovers and 14 fastbreak points in all.

And, in the end, one incredible shot at the buzzer.

Florida State plays again on Monday night at home against North Carolina.

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