TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Miami’s Nijel Pack scored a game-high 18 points on six made field goals and two free throws to lead No. 20 Miami to an 86-63 victory over Florida State at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Pack led five Hurricanes in double figure scoring, Isaiah Wong (18 points), Wooga Poplar (14 points), Jordan Miller (12 points), and Norchad Omier (12 points) to improve Miami’s ACC record to 7-3.
Matthew Cleveland and Naheem McLeod led the Seminoles with seven points each in the first half, along with Darin Green Jr. pulling down three rebounds to lead Florida State into intermission.
Miami shot 9-14 (.643) from beyond the arc in the first half, making 20 of their 33 attempts from the field (.606) to include a 28-5 scoring run over six minutes. The Hurricanes made five of their last seven field goals to end the half with a 54-28 lead over Florida State.
Caleb Mills was the Seminoles’ top scorer against Miami with 12 points on four made field goals and three made free throws. Naheem McLeod scored in double digits, adding 11 points of his own on five out of five made field goals. Green Jr. and Cleveland led Florida State in rebounds, pulling down five each.
Florida State outscored Miami in the second half, 35-32, shooting 13-34 (.382) from the field, 2-11 (.182), and seven-11 (.636) from the charity stripe.
The Seminoles scored 19 points off of their opponent’s 17 turnovers. Florida State scored 42 points in the paint, 24 bench points, and 11 fast break points.
Florida State will remain at the Donald L Tucker Center to complete its two home game series before hitting the road again next week. The Seminoles play host to the Clemson Tigers on Saturday, January 28th with tip off at 5pm. Saturday night’s game will be in honor of Hoops for Troops, the inaugural Military Appreciation game at the Tuck, which will be televised on ACCN.