College basketball roundup: Seminoles edge Wolfpack, Miami tops Wake

Published 12:00 am Sunday, January 2, 2022

Associated Press

RALEIGH — Malik Osborne scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half and Cam’Ron Fletcher and Matthew Cleveland made big plays in the final seconds to help Florida State edge North Carolina State 83-81 on Saturday.

Fletcher scored 14 points and Cleveland and Caleb Mills 13 each as the Seminoles (7-4, 1-1 ACC) survived a 32-point performance by Dereon Seabron to hand the Wolfpack (7-7, 0-3) its fifth straight loss.

After Terquavion Smith hit a 3-pointer off a Seabron assist to cut FSU’s lead to 79-78, Cleveland was fouled after an offensive rebound and made 1 of 2 free throws. NC State called timeout with 8.4 seconds remaining but Fletcher stole the inbounds pass meant for Seabron and was fouled. He made the first free throw and missed the second but NC State’s Jericole Hellems was called for a foul going for the rebound and Cleveland sank two more free throws. Smith hit his seventh 3-pointer as the game ended.

Seabron was 12-of-14 shooting. His only 2-point miss came with NC State up by a point with a minute to go and led to a held-ball and an FSU possession that began the Seminoles’ 9-6 game-ending run. Seabron and Smith combined for 30 of NC State’s 40 second-half points, including the final 23. Smith made seven 3-pointers and finished with 23 points.

Both teams shot over 50%. NC State made 12 3-pointers, six more than FSU. The Seminoles’ bench outscored NC State’s 35-9.

The Wolfpack went up 58-51 after a Breon Pass 3-pointer, but FSU bounced back with Osborne scoring eight straight points to start a 16-4 run.

Miami 92, Wake Forest 84

CORAL GABLES, Fla.  — Isaiah Wong scored 25 points, Charlie Moore scored 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting and streaking Miami won its seventh straight.

The last time Miami (11-3, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its first three conference games was the 2012-13 season when the Hurricanes went on to win the conference and postseason tournament title.

Wong made 9 of 17 shots from the floor. Jordan Miller scored 17 points and Kameron McGusty 15 on 10-for-11 shooting from the foul line.

Jake LaRavia scored 19 points for the Demon Deacons on 9-for-13 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and distributed four assists. Isaiah Mucius had 17 points and Alondes Williams scored 15.

Williams entered the game second in the conference in scoring averaging 20.5 points per game. He was limited to 6-for-13 shooting including 2 for 8 from 3-point range.

Wake Forest is scheduled to host Syracuse on Jan. 8 while the Hurricanes will host the Orange on Wednesday.

Appalachian State 77, ULM 69

BOONE — Adrian Delph had 29 points as Appalachian State defeated Louisiana-Monroe. Donovan Gregory had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Mountaineers (7-8, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference). Michael Almonacy added 13 points and 10 assists. CJ Huntley had 12 points.

Koreem Ozier had 19 points for the Warhawks (8-6, 0-2). Nika Metskhvarishvili added 17 points. Andre Jones had 14 points and seven rebounds.

Virginia 74, Syracuse 69

SYRACUSE, N.Y.  — Kihei Clark and Armaan Franklin scored 17 points apiece, Kadin Shedrick had a double-double and Virginia beat the Orange in an Atlantic Coast Conference tilt. The Cavaliers (8-5, 2-1) now have a three-game winning streak against Syracuse (7-6, 1-1).

Buddy Boeheim’s 3-pointer with 1:19 left cut it to 72-69, but the Orange missed their last three shots while Clark made two free throws with 22 seconds left to seal it. Boeheim scored 27 points to lead the  Orange.