Florida State star Matthew Cleveland leaves ACC Tournament game vs. Georgia Tech with ankle injury

Florida State star Matthew Cleveland went down with an apparent ankle injury in the first game of the ACC Tournament on Thursday. Cleveland was helped to the locker room with 9:56 to play in the first half and x-rays were performed right away, according to the ACC Network broadcast.

Team doctors found no structural damage after the injury, and the plan is to tape up Cleveland’s ankle and see if he can get back out there, the broadcast later announced.

Cleveland is a key piece for Florida State this year, leading the Seminoles with 14 points and 7.6 rebounds per game entering the conference tournament. He’s been one of the bright spots for a struggling Florida State team this season, especially his Feb. 25 buzzer-beater to help FSU come back from 25 points down to defeat Miami.

The Seminoles finished the regular season with a 9-22 overall record, including a 7-13 mark in ACC play to finish as the conference’s No. 12 seed. At the time of the injury, Florida State led No. 13 Georgia Tech 12-9, but extended the lead to 19-12 with 6:13 to play.

Leonard Hamilton evaluates strength of ACC

Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton has seen the ACC change over the past few years. He said one of the biggest changes has been the distribution of good teams in the conference from a small subset to a wide group of programs.

“For me personally, being in ACC, I try very hard not to allow one game to be more important than them because when you do that you have the highs and lows,” Hamilton said after defeating Miami. “I think that’s a little bit of what we’re facing this year. We don’t understand that if you’re not mentally and emotionally engaged with each game you play and don’t give everybody the proper respect you know, something bad could happen to you.

“I try to be matter of fact. I don’t try to blow one team up more than another. The rivalry speaks for itself. But I try to approach every game the same way. When you start playing, making one game more important than the other, it is hard. Sometimes when a nationally ranked team is coming in, your national TV, your emotions and everything getting involved. But that sometime is not what you want your team mindset to be if you’re a coach. You want to try to come out and play well against everybody.”