Xavier Rathan-Mayes’ career-high tying 35 points was not enough for Florida State on Wednesday night as the Seminoles’ late rally came up short in an 81-77 road loss to Miami.
Florida State erased a 16-point deficit to top the Hurricanes in the first meeting between the teams this season and it looked as though history may be repeating itself. Miami led by 18 with under five minutes to play when Rathan-Mayes scored 26 straight Florida State points as FSU (15-14, 7-9 ACC) twice cut the lead down to two.
After making the first of two free throws to make the score 79-77 with 1.9 seconds remaining, Rathan-Mayes tried to intentionally miss the second to give his team a shot at an offensive rebound. His shot went awry, but Miami’s Davon Reed secured the rebound and put the game away by making both foul shots on the other end.
In addition to tying a career scoring-high and a Florida State freshman record, Rathan-Mayes led the team with 5 assists. Montay Brandon, who was a perfect 7-for-7 in the first match-up with the Hurricanes, was the only other Seminole in double-figures scoring with 11 points and a team-high 5 rebounds.
Miami (18-10, 8-7 ACC) was able to take control of the game with a 16-5 run in the second half after the Seminoles had cut a 29-25 halftime deficit down to one with under 17 minutes remaining.
Rathan-Mayes’ counterpart Angel Rodriguez paced Miami with 25 points and 5 assists. Sheldon McClellan and Reed finished with 19 and 18 points respectively while Tonye Jekiri added 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for a Miami team that dominated the Seminoles on the glass, 37-23.
The Hurricanes will play their final home game of the year against North Carolina on Saturday. Wednesday’s contest was the final road game of the regular season for Florida State. The Seminoles will host No. 17 Louisville on Saturday.
