Malique Ewin scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Taylor Bol Bowen had a perfect shooting night as Florida State defeated Miami 80-65 on Wednesday night in Coral Gables, Fla.
Bowen, a 6-foot-10 forward, scored 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting, including 4-for-4 on 3-point attempts.
The Seminoles (11-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) also got 10 points from Jamir Watkins and nine points and a season-high 10 assists from freshman Daquan Davis.
The Hurricanes were led by former Seminoles standout Matthew Cleveland, who had 16 points, and Paul Djobet, who scored 13 points. However, Miami (4-11, 0-4) lost its fourth straight game overall and fell for the 11th time in 12 games overall. The Hurricanes dropped their 13th consecutive conference contest dating to last season.
Bill Courtney is 0-3 as Miami’s interim coach. He replaced Jim Larranaga, 75, who retired on Dec. 26, following Miami’s poor start. The Hurricanes haven’t beaten a major-conference team this season.
Miami played its fifth straight game without point guard Nijel Pack, who leads the team in scoring average (13.9 points per game).
Freshman Divine Ugochukwu, who started for Pack, scored six points but missed the second half due to a left hip injury.
Lynn Kidd, Miami’s third-leading scorer (11.3 ppg), did not take a shot in the first half. For the game, he had eight points and seven rebounds.
Miami got off to a fast start, taking a 5-0 lead. However, late in the half, Florida State’s press started forcing turnovers, fueling a 17-3 run. Miami had six giveaways during that span.
By the end of the half, the Seminoles led 39-25, thanks largely to a 9-0 edge on points off turnovers.
The Hurricanes shot just 33.3 percent in the first half, including 2-for-12 on 3-point attempts (16.7 percent).
In the second half, Miami closed the gap to 41-33, but Davis scored the game’s next five points.
For a 1:04 span that started with 14:48 left in the second half, Cleveland produced three points but could have logged far more as he made just 1 of 6 from the foul line. On one of those “misses,” Cleveland made the shot but was called for a lane violation as he stepped on the line.
Miami then went on a 9-0 run, climbing within 54-48 with 10:59 left on a 3-pointer from Austin Swartz.
But that was as close as the Hurricanes got with the Seminoles cruising from there.
For the game, Florida State shot 50 percent from the floor and made 10 of 24 (41.7 percent) from 3-point range. Miami shot 36.7 percent and made just 5 of 21 long-distance shots (23.8 percent).
–Field Level Media
