ACC Basketball: Florida State 64, Miami 59

Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Bernard James got off to a miserable start. He made up for it with a terrific finish.

James scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half and No. 15 Florida State remained in the hunt for its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship with a 64-59 victory over Miami on Saturday.

“He’s a cool customer,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said of the 6-foot-10 James. “When we start executing better, it makes it easier for him.”

James, who is shooting 60 percent from the floor this season, missed four of his five attempts in the first half. But he went 7 for 8 from the field after the break and matched his career-high point total as the Seminoles ended Miami’s longest win streak in ACC play at five.

Michael Snaer had 12 points and Ian Miller finished with 11 for Florida State (17-7, 8-2), which bounced back from a disappointing 64-60 loss at Boston College on Wednesday.

The Seminoles, who began the day tied with Duke and North Carolina for first place in the league, have conference wins over the Tar Heels and Blue Devils among their league wins while their only ACC losses came at Clemson and Boston College.

“Hopefully we can be more consistent as we move through the rest of our season,” Hamilton said. “We bounced back today.”

Hamilton made some changes at halftime to try and give James a bit more operating room inside.

“We had a difficult time getting him going because of the defensive job that Reggie Johnson was doing,” Hamilton said.