FSU basketball: Noles dominate Miami for fifth consecutive ACC win

FSU basketball (10-2, 6-1 ACC) continues their winning streak against the Miami Hurricanes with a 81-59 win Wednesday night.

It was the sixth straight win for the Noles over the Canes and their fifth consecutive win in 2021.

The Noles got off to another quick start, building a 20-point lead behind the defense forcing eight turnovers in the first half.

However, the Canes closed the lead to 12 with a late run behind some sloppy play from the Noles. FSU shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half and dominated the boards (+11) while going 4 of 6 from the free-throw line with seven turnovers.

The Noles held Miami to 32 percent shooting in the first half, but Miami was 5 of 13 from beyond-the-arc.

This game had spurts of what I feared with FSU basketball playing down to their level of competition. FSU had instances of playing ridiculously sloppy on offense, almost lackadaisical at times, which allowed Miami to stay in the game longer than they should have.

However, Miami didn’t have the firepower to make the Noles pay for those mistakes as the Noles built the lead back to 21 points with 11 minutes left.

The Noles were led by Malik Osborne’s double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. MJ Walker checked in with 11 points, and Sadaar Calhoun continues his solid play with 11 points.

FSU basketball shot 51.8 percent from the floor for the game and was +22 on the boards while going 11 of 14 from the free-throw line.

Miami shot 35 percent from the floor, and the Noles covered the -11.5 betting spread. FSU didn’t play as well has they have been the past four games, but it was impressive to win by so much while not playing as well as one would like.

Good teams win and great teams cover the spread. The Noles will be back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. against Georgia Tech on the ACC Network.