Larkin stars as Miami wins at FSU
by Corey Clark, USA TODAY Sports
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — There are no such things as moral victories for the Florida State men’s basketball program. Not anymore. Not after four straight NCAA Tournaments and an ACC championship in 2012.
But after a 25-point loss at Wake Forest over the weekend, the Seminoles did show plenty of fight on Wednesday night against No. 4 Miami. They just couldn’t stop sophomore Shane Larkin and the Hurricanes when it mattered most.
The Miami point guard scored a game-high 22 points – 16 in the second half – and senior Reggie Johnson added 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench in a 74-68 win over FSU in front of 9,007 at the Civic Center.
“In the second half it didn’t seem like we had an answer for Larkin,” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. “I thought he made some really, really great plays. I think he’s the No. 1 point guard in the ACC for sure and one of the top two or three in the country.
“I haven’t seen anybody that has the whole package like he does.”
After the Seminoles tied the game at 51 on an Okaro White tip-in with 10:06 left, Larkin fueled a 17-5 run that seemingly put the game out of reach. He scored nine points during the stretch, including a 3-pointer from the right wing that put the Hurricanes up 68-56 with 4:32 left.
“I thought Shane did a great job,” Miami head coach Jim Larranaga said. “He dribbled around until he could get a shot. There was no sense in even trying to run an offense with the way they were defending the perimeter.
“They weren’t going to give us any 3′s.”
Miami hit 15 3′s in its blowout win over North Carolina on Saturday.
Against the Seminoles, the Hurricanes were just 3 of 8 overall and were just 0 for 1 in the first half.
So, led by Larkin, the veteran team attacked the basket and hit an incredible 73.9 percent of its shots in the first half. Miami was 17 of 23 from the field in the first 20 minutes and 30 of 47 overall … [For more on Shane Larkin stars as Miami Hurricanes get win at FSU, click here.]
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