Matthew Cleveland leads Florida State past Jackets with fifth-straight double-double
Sophomore guard Matthew Cleveland scored 21 points and recorded his fifth straight double-double, and the Florida State men’s basketball team rolled past visiting Georgia Tech on Saturday, 75-64.
Cleveland hit 9 of 16 shots from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds, and the Seminoles rallied from a slow start to dominate the second half.
Florida State improves to 3-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play (5-11 overall), while the Yellow Jackets fall to 8-7 and 1-4.
FSU coach Leonard Hamilton also recorded his 600th career win with the victory.
“I think they might have scored 26 points in the first eight minutes, something like that,” Hamilton said of the Yellow Jackets. “We called a timeout, and we challenged our players like we had been doing all week. From that point on, they scored I think 10 points in the last 12 minutes of the first half. And I think that was the turning point.”
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With his performance Saturday, Cleveland becomes the first Seminole to record five straight double-doubles since Doug Edwards during the 1991-’92 season.
“Matthew’s a warrior. There’s no doubt about that,” Hamilton said. “When you look in the dictionary, and you see that word, ‘unconquered,’ his face is right in Webster’s Dictionary, right by that word. He’s just that kind of guy. He raises his level every game. …
“Is this the fifth straight game he’s gone double-double? Wow. I’m real not sure I’ve been around very many people do that five games in a row.”
And Cleveland wasn’t alone. The Seminoles also got impressive performances from shooting guard Darin Green Jr. (18 points), junior guard Caleb Mills (13 points, 7 assists) and three other players with at least seven points.
Florida State got off to a difficult start as the Yellow Jackets hit their first six shots from the field, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, to take an early 16-7 lead. But the Seminoles closed the half with a big run of their own to take a 39-36 advantage into halftime.
Florida State returns to action Wednesday at Wake Forest, and the Seminoles will have the services of freshman forward Baba Miller for the first time all season. Miller has had to sit out the first 16 games due to an NCAA ruling before the season.
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