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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at FSU chapter.

On Saturday, Feb. 25, Florida State University’s (FSU) men’s basketball team took on the University of Miami (UM) Hurricanes in Coral Gables, Florida. With the end of the regular basketball season on the horizon, the FSU Seminoles were looking for a win to improve their record while UM wanted to defeat their rivals from the north. With their last opportunity to score, a buzzer-beater shot put FSU on top for the win against UM, with 85 points to 84 points. 

From the beginning of the game, UM let the scoreboard. FSU kept their spirits up, matching UM’s score with their own and trailing a few points behind all 40 minutes of gameplay. However, by halftime, UM was leading by 23 points. FSU made a comeback in the second half, putting the teams neck-to-neck in the final plays of the game. 

All bets were off in the final 10 seconds of the second half. UM made a three-pointer shot with 5.5 seconds remaining, with the score at 84-82 in Miami’s favor. Player #35, Matthew Cleveland, quickly got the ball back and player #1, Jalen Warley, ran the ball down the court before passing the ball back to Cleveland. He made the shot with less than a second left in the game. Cleveland threw the ball from behind the three-point line, the buzzer went off and the ball went through the hoop. FSU pulled ahead 85-84 to win the game. FSU’s win crushed UM’s season-long streak of home game wins and knocked them out of being the #1 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament. 

FSU’s starting five players for the game were #3 Cam Corhen, #4 Caleb Mills, #1 Jalen Warley, #22 Darin Green Jr. and #35 Matthew Cleveland. Green led the team, playing all 40 minutes and showing his endurance throughout. Cleveland made the most points per attempt, at eight baskets made out of 15 attempts, followed by Green with seven baskets made out of 18 attempts. Both players tied for the most points made, scoring 20 points each. Overall, the team did its best to keep up with UM, making 33 out of 63 attempted baskets versus UM’s 34 out of 64 attempted baskets. Mills and Warley led in assists with five each out of the team’s 18 total assists. Warley also had the most rebounds in the game at seven out of the 30 total FSU rebounds. 

The FSU men’s basketball team has had a non-successful season, getting just nine wins and a whopping 20 losses. The team has struggled to bounce back after the season shut down leading up to March Madness in 2020. The team’s record has decreased each year since, going 26-5 in 2020, 18-7 in 2021 and 17-14 last year. UM had 23 wins and just six losses this season, placing them at #13 in the ACC.  

Although this season has been anything but ideal for the Seminoles, a win against the rival Hurricanes might be the last push FSU needs for their season. View the full FSU-UM game stats here and the condensed game clips here. FSU fell short to the University of North Carolina Tar Heels Monday night, with 77 points to 66 points in their last home game, but are hopeful for their final away game this weekend. Tune into FSU basketball against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday, March 4. 

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Erin is a senior at FSU majoring in Criminology minoring in International Affairs. In addition to Her Campus, she is involved in Transfer Genius program, Leadership LOGIC, and studied abroad in Italy Fall 2022. Erin enjoys being spending time with friends, cooking, and catching up on reality television.