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14 of last 15! Leonard Hamilton, Seminoles knock off Miami again, 74-66

On3 imageby:Corey Clark•02/19/25•

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Florida State guard Jamir Watkins drives Wednesday night against rival Miami. (Melina Myers/Imagn Images)

It has been a trying year for the Florida State men’s basketball team in a lot of ways.

There have been losing streaks, blown leads and a longtime head coach announcing his resignation at the end of the season.

But one thing remains constant: The Seminoles can still beat Miami.

The ‘Noles made it a clean sweep this season and a staggering 14 of the last 15 in the series on Wednesday night with a 74-66 win at the Tucker Center. Florida State is now 16-10 overall on the year and 7-8 in ACC play. Miami falls to 6-20 and 2-13.

It wasn’t nearly as easy as the 80-65 win over the Hurricanes earlier in the season, but in the end, the FSU men did what they always seem to do and beat their rival from South Florida. Unless they match up again at the ACC Tournament — which is highly unlikely since the Hurricanes might not qualify for it — Leonard Hamilton will finish his career with a five-game winning streak against the program he used to coach.

With recent football stars Jared Verse, Jordan Travis and Trey Benson in attendance courtside, the Seminoles got 24 points from Malique Ewin and 16 from Jamir Watkins to turn a halftime tie into an eight-point victory.

Ewin and Watkins got their points in decidedly different fashions.

Ewin was a perfect 10-of-10 from the field, and Watkins was just 2-of-12 from the floor. But Watkins was 11-of-14 from the free-throw line, and the seven he made down the stretch were enough for the Seminoles to hold off any last-minute comeback attempts by Miami.

Former FSU player Matthew Cleveland was once again welcomed back rudely by a packed Florida State student section, which booed the transfer every time he touched the ball or had his name announced. Cleveland led the Hurricanes with 14 points but was just 3-of-14 from the field.

Even though the established Florida State stars took control late, it was reserve FSU forward A.J. Swinton who had arguably the biggest stretch of the game.

With the score tied at 45 with 9:20 left, the freshman knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Seminoles the lead. Then 33 seconds later, after a Ewin missed free throw on the back end of an and-1 opportunity, he buried another 3-pointer to give Florida State an eight-point advantage.

Not only were they big shots for the newcomer, but they came at a perfect time. Florida State was just 3-of-17 from 3-point range before those two makes and finished just 5-of-22 overall from beyond the arc.

But after those Swinton 3-pointers, the Seminoles never relinquished the lead.

Chandler Jackson added 11 points and Taylor Bol Bowen had four blocks and two steals for the Seminoles, who play again on Saturday afternoon at Louisville.

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