TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) — Redshirt junior Malik Osborne scored 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and junior RaiQuan Gray scored 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in leading No. 16 Florida State to a 81-59 victory over Miami at home. For both Osborne and Gray the double doubles were their first as Seminoles. The double double marked the third in Osborne’s career after earning two during his freshman season at Rice.
The Seminoles, who were named as the National Team of the Week on Monday by ESPN, won their school record 22nd consecutive ACC home game – tied for the second longest streak in ACC history.
Florida State is now 10-2 (6-1 ACC) and the Hurricanes are 6-9 (2-8 ACC). The Seminoles have now defeated Miami six consecutive times, matching the Seminoles’ longest winning streak against the Hurricanes in the history of the season.
“Obviously tonight was a game that was very important to us,” said Seminole Head Coach Leonard Hamilton. “There were times we played exceptionally well and areas we still need to work on. I thought we adjusted there in the second half. We’ve got some guys in there that were able to get some steals, blocks and change the pace of the game. We had two guys get double doubles tonight, (RaiQuan) Gray and (Malik) Osborne. Tonight, we showed that when we’re not shooting the ball well from the perimeter, we can still find a way to get the win.”
Florida State held Miami to 20 field goals, 37 percent shooting from the field and nine 3-point shots. The Seminoles blocked four shots and had five steals. With four Seminoles pulling down four or more rebounds, Florida State outrebounded Miami by a 45-23 margin.
Osborne, senior M.J. Walker, and junior Sardaar Calhoun led the Seminoles in scoring with 11 points apiece. Walker has scored at least 10 points in 10 of Florida State’s 12 games this season.
The Seminoles went into the locker room at half leading the Hurricanes by a 35-23 margin. Walker led with seven points. Florida State led for 38:57 of the game and by 24 points in the second half after Calhoun’s two free throws.
Florida State has led four of its last five opponents by at least 20 points (Clemson by 38 points, NC State by 36 points, Louisville by 24 points, and Miami by 24 points) and is averaging an 18.6 point margin of victory in the last five games.
Calhoun is now averaging 9.7 points in his last two games and has made at least one 3-point field goal in nine of the first 14 games of his career. The junior is a perfect seven of seven from the free throw line for the Seminoles.
Osborne is averaging 10.3 points and is a perfect six of six in his last four games. Gray is averaging 11.8 points in his last four games, scoring in double figures for his fourth consecutive game.
Freshman Scottie Barnes and senior RayQuan Evans led the team in assists with four each. Evans has scored 58 points and is averaging 11.6 points per game as a starter. He is shooting .611 (22 of 36) from the field and averages 4.3 field goals made per game as a starter.
Redshirt junior Wyatt Wilkes knocked down two triples and contributed one steal. This marks his eighth steal in the first 12 games of the season, tying his single-season career-high from last season.
Miami’s Isaiah Wong led the Hurricanes with 21 points and three assists. Kameron McGusty and Anthony Walker had 13 apiece. Nysier Brooks led in rebounds with five and both McGusty and Wong led with three assists.
“I think that Florida State is really an outstanding team,” said Miami Head Coach Jim Larranaga. “They’re very deep and they’re very talented; we were not able to stay with them in the first half until the very closing minutes. We got within 12, we had been down 20 and I thought we came out pretty well in the second half. We got them within eight and then we had a couple of easy shots that didn’t go down for us and they ran off 10 straight points. It went from eight to 18 and we were never able to recover from that.”
No. 16 Florida State takes on Georgia Tech this Saturday, January 30 at McCamish Pavilion. The game tips off at 4 pm and will be aired on the ACC Network.
