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Leonard Hamilton offers latest on status of Florida State top scorer Matthew Cleveland

On3 imageby: Ira Schoffel02/17/23iraschoffel
On3 image
Matthew Cleveland looks to drive against No. 13 Virginia. (Courtesy of FSU Sports Information)

Coming off the most lopsided loss of his tenure, Florida State men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton is not optimistic that leading scorer and rebounder Matthew Cleveland will be available Saturday to face visiting Boston College.

With Cleveland out of the lineup this past Wednesday night at Clemson due to back spasms, the Seminoles came up on the wrong end of a 94-54 shellacking.

Cleveland leads Florida State in scoring with 14.0 points per game and rebounding with 7.8. The only other player on the team who averages more than 3.8 rebounds per game is junior Cam’Ron Fletcher, and he is out for the year with a torn ACL.

“If I had to give my estimate, I’d say he won’t be available,” Hamilton said of Cleveland on Friday morning. “We’ll wait and see, but those things affect people differently.”

Hamilton said the sophomore’s back issue likely stems from “overuse,” as he leads the team with an average of 34.4 minutes played per game.

“I would be surprised if he is ready to play,” the Florida State head coach said. “That really takes away from the little depth that we do have, and the experience that we have. But that’s who we are now. So it gives someone else an opportunity to step up and fill the gap.”

Freshman Baba Miller started in Cleveland’s place at Clemson and scored a career-high 12 points to go along with a team-best six rebounds.

Florida State and Boston College will tip off at noon Saturday inside the Tucker Center. The Seminoles are 8-19 overall and 6-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Eagles are 12-15 and 6-10.

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