, which began the day tied with No. 3 Duke for the league lead, beat Miami for the fourth time in a row. The Hurricanes (10-7, 2-5 ACC) lost in league play at home for the third time.''We did everything it took to win the game except win,'' Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. ''We did a very, very nice job. We weren't able to close.'' Chris Lykes had 24 points but also six turnovers for the Hurricanes. Their turnover total was a season high.The Seminoles won despite shooting 42 percent and committing 16 turnovers. They compensated by scoring 21 points off takeaways.''The last few minutes we got some deflections and steals. That's who we are,'' Hamilton said. ''During that stretch we were able to turn it up a notch or two, and that really made a difference in the game.'' Not that Florida State's characteristically strong defense wasn't stout from the start. The Hurricanes had to call a timeout when they were trapped on the game's first possession. They blew a dunk, threw up air balls and had 10 shots blocked.But Miami stayed in the game early with a strong defensive effort of its own. DJ Vasiljevic sank a 3-pointer and then scored on a breakaway to give the Hurricanes their biggest lead with 5:20 remaining, 65-56.''We came to the huddle and the fans were screaming and frantic, but we all said, `We've been in this situation before. We'll get this win,''' Vassell said. ''We knew we had to turn it up on defense. We started more pressure on them and getting out in transition - playing our way.'' Walker's three free throws cut the spread to 65-61, and his 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in regulation tied it at 69.ANOTHER STREAKThe Seminoles have won nine consecutive overtime games, including two this season. Their last OT loss came against Iowa in December 2016.BIG PICTUREFlorida State: Hamilton said he has heard talk that the league isn't as strong as usual - and figures his team's place in the standings reinforces that perception.''People say that because we're not one of the tradition-rich programs - blue bloods or whatever they call them - the fact we're in this position, something must be wrong,'' Hamilton said. ''If the same traditionally successful programs are not in the position they've always been, the conference must be down.''I'm not going to tell you what I think about that. I might get fined.'' Miami: The addition of freshman Anthony Walker to the rotation gave the Hurricanes more depth. Walker, who sat out the past two games because Larranaga was unhappy with his effort, played 13 minutes and had three rebounds.Even so, three Hurricanes played more than 40 minutes.UP NEXTSeminoles: Return home to play Notre Dame on Saturday. They are 2-3 against the Fighting Irish in the past three years.Hurricanes: Play Tuesday at Duke, which won 95-62 when the teams met Jan. 4. It was Larranaga's worst home loss in nine years at Miami.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine.)
Jan 17, 2020With Duke's loss at Clemson earlier in the week and Florida State's win over Virginia the next night, the Seminoles moved into a three-way tie at the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings going into Saturday's game against Miami in Coral Gables, Fla.The ninth-ranked Seminoles (15-2, 5-1 ACC) will carry an eight-game winning streak into the contest against the Hurricanes (10-6, 2-4), who have lost three of their last four outings since an overtime win at Clemson on New Year's Eve.Miami's only win in January so far was a 66-58 home win over a Pittsburgh team that handed the Seminoles their only league loss in an early conference opener in November.The Hurricanes struggled in their last outing, an 80-63 rout at North Carolina State, as they contend with the same issue they had last season: lack of depth up front. With injuries sidelining backup forwards Deng Gak and Florida transfer Keith Stone, the Hurricanes are left with only 7-foot redshirt junior Rodney Miller and 6-10 forward Sam Waardenburg to battle inside."We're not a very good defensive team and haven't been all year long," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said after forward D. J. Funderburk had 19 points and eight rebounds and forward Jerricole Hellems added 11 off the bench for the Wolfpack. "When our big guys get in foul trouble, we've got no resistance at the rim." The Pack outscored Miami 36-28 in the paint and got 26 points from its bench to eight for the Hurricanes."When our two big guys get in foul trouble and without Keith Stone or Deng Gak," Larranaga said, "we just don't have any depth to be able to match up with bigs." The Seminoles, who haven't lost since an 80-64 setback at Indiana in early December, are coming off a grind-it-out, 54-50 win over Virginia. They held the Cavaliers to just 3-of-15 shooting from 3-point range and forced them into an uncustomary 18 turnovers."Some people will say this was not a very pretty game," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said. "It's beautiful to me." The Seminoles got nice production from their leading scorer with sophomore guard Devin Vassell scoring a career-high 18 points, and sophomore guard Anthony Polite also scored a career high with 14 points, just a point short of matching his output for the last three games combined. Polite hit all four of his 3-point attempts, including one with 2:27 left that tied the game at 47-47."Anthony exudes confidence," Hamilton said. "A lot of the mindset, the starry look in his eyes as a freshman, seems to be leaving him. He's comfortable. He's a Seminole through and through. He's unselfish. He plays hard every possession."He spends a lot of time in the gym getting shots up, and, when he shoots the ball, I think everyone who sees him, when you look at him, you see a lot of confidence." The game will be the first of two meetings between the two in-state rivals in the regular season with the rematch Feb. 8 in Tallahassee.--Field Level Media
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