UM lets late lead slip away, loses 83-79 to No. 9 FSU in overtime thriller
Former University of Miami basketball greats Tim James, Johnny Hemsley and Steve Edwards were at the Watsco Center on Saturday, enjoying the on-campus arena they never had and reminiscing as their former coach, Leonard Hamilton, and his ninth-ranked Florida State Seminoles rallied to beat the Hurricanes 83-79 in an overtime thriller.
Miami, which had lost three of four games since New Year’s Eve and was desperate for a win, led by nine with five minutes to go in regulation. It looked like the Hurricanes were going to pull off the upset and get a boost of confidence as they hit the road to play at No. 3 Duke on Tuesday.
Instead, Hamilton’s team did what Hamilton’s teams have been doing since James, Hemsley and Edwards played for him in UM jerseys. The Seminoles clamped down on defense when it mattered most, forced turnovers, got easy baskets and eventually broke the Hurricanes’ hearts.
“We did everything it took to win the game, except win,” UM coach Jim Larranaga said. Those were the exact words he told his players in the locker room immediately after the crushing defeat.
UM led 69-66 with under a minute to go in regulation after a Chris Lykes jumper, but Malik Osborne stole the ball from Lykes on the other end of the floor and M.J. Walker sank a three-pointer to tie the score at 69 and force overtime.
At that moment, the crowd — which appeared to be two-thirds FSU fans — erupted. The Seminoles fans got even louder during overtime and broke into their tomahawk chop war chant.
Lykes made back-to-back threes in overtime, and the Canes trailed 79-77 with 23 seconds to go, but FSU got a dunk from Trent Forrest and a pair of Walker free throws sealed the victory.
“A four-point victory in my mind is an ACC blowout,” Hamilton said, commenting on the league’s parity.
Lykes led all scorers with 24 points, including six three-pointers. DJ Vasiljevic had 19, and Kam McGusty added 15 for the Hurricanes. Sam Waardenburg grabbed 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Devin Vassell led FSU with 23 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Walker, who picked up two quick fouls early and spent most of the first half on the bench, scored all 19 of his points in the second half.
“We’ve been pretty darn good at the end of close games, finishing, but today we weren’t able to close,” Larranaga said.
Both Larranaga and Hamilton said the difference was FSU’s defense in the final five minutes of regulation. Hamilton conceded that when UM took a nine-point lead, and his players insisted they’d win the game, he had his doubts.
“That’s kind of who we are,” Hamilton said. “We rely a lot on our ability to get deflections and steals. They did a very good job of maintaining their poise the majority of the game, but during that stretch, we were able to turn it up a notch or two, get deflections and steals, and that really made the difference in the game.”
Miami led for 28 minutes, and outrebounded the Seminoles 41-36. But FSU forced UM into 24 turnovers and shared the ball well, with 21 assists to the Canes’ 13.
“They’re very deserving of their high national ranking,” Larranaga said. “In the last two games, they’ve won very close games, beating Virginia made a huge three to win the game and today, down nine and hustling their way, forcing some turnovers. I think they’re enjoying another typical Florida State season.”
The Seminoles (16-2, 6-1 ACC) are riding a nine-game win streak dating to early December. Miami dropped to 10-7 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
“They had a tremendous game plan for us,” Hamilton said. “We had a hard time finding any driving lanes. The execution of their defense was almost perfect. We kept changing schemes and found it very difficult to get good looks. Offensively, they were extremely patient. Chris Lykes seemed to be scoring at will. But I was very proud of our players, they kept their poise. Toward the end we got some deflections and steals, and made good decisions with the ball.”
Lykes, sitting with his shoulders slumped, summed it up like this: “It was a game of runs. They made a run at the right time. We didn’t execute when we had to. It was a tough loss. You can imagine how we felt. We would have liked to have gotten a “W”, but we fought, and we’ll be OK.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2020 at 5:10 PM.