The Florida State Seminoles (17-14) defended home court from the SMU Mustangs (22-9) Saturday afternoon, winning 76-69.
The Mustangs managed to keep the score close for much of the contest, all the way down to the last few minutes. Boopie Miller led the team in scoring, earning 16 points on 7-11 shooting.
This loss could be costly for the Mustangs, as falling from a top four seed in the conference would lose their two-round bye to start the ACC championship.
One of the keys to this game was certainly Florida State’s physicality, which worked to slow down any momentum that the Mustangs could build. Additionally, the Seminoles got aggressive for rebounds, with most of those rebounds coming on defense and significantly limiting the Mustangs’ offensive opportunities.
A major part of this control was the return of star player and leading rebounder Malique Ewin. Ewin missed two games prior to Saturday’s contest, but made a statement in his return to the court. He commanded the Seminoles, scoring a team-high 26 points and eight rebounds.
With such a strong performance Saturday, Florida Sate will now set their sights on the upcoming ACC championship tournament.
This game was more than just a normal win for the Seminoles, as it marked the end of legendary head coach Leonard Hamilton’s last home game. During his 23 years at Florida State, Coach Hamilton has earned three ACC Coach of the Year awards, as well as Florida State’s first ever ACC championship title. Fortunately, Coach Hamilton was sent off on a high note, earning his 200th ACC regular season victory, making him the fourth coach all time to reach this mark.
In his farewell speech, Coach Hamilton left Florida State fans with a powerful message about his love for the program and community.
“I want you to know I’m a Seminole today, a Seminole tomorrow, and a Seminole forever.”