CORAL GABLES, Fla. _ Their football coaches spent the day battling for recruits; and then, Wednesday night, cross-state rivals University of Miami and Florida State fought for basketball supremacy in front of a packed Watsco Center.
The 15th-ranked Seminoles overcame a halftime deficit and earned the state bragging rights with a 75-57 win over a UM team that once again unraveled after intermission.
The unranked Hurricanes held a three-point edge at halftime, but FSU dominated after the break, using a 16-2 run to open a lead that would only get wider as the game wore on.
With 4:38 to go and Miami down 66-49, Canes fans started heading for the exits. The Canes went 2 of 11 from 3-point range, had scoreless stretches of six minutes and five minutes, and the Seminoles capitalized. FSU shot 60 percent in the second half.
Dwayne Bacon and 6-foot-10 freshman Jonathan Isaac led the Seminoles with 15 points apiece. Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 13 and Terance Mann added 11.
Freshman Bruce Brown led Miami with 17 points. Davon Reed and Ja'Quan Newton had 12 each.
FSU, which had jumped to No. 6 last week after beating five ranked opponents, was especially motivated after back-to-back losses that dropped it nine spots in the rankings.
Miami, meanwhile, was eager to beat another ranked team after knocking off No. 9 North Carolina last Saturday. Instead, the Hurricanes got a repeat performance of the Duke game, which they led at the half and wound up losing in a rout.
The energy on the floor was palpable from the opening whistle, and the fans _ about a third of them in garnet and gold _ got their money's worth.
Rathan-Mayes scored eight consecutive points to put FSU ahead 14-13. Dewan Huell slammed down a dunk that gave UM a 20-18 lead.
Back and forth they went, the Canes displaying their athleticism while the Seminoles resembled an NBA team with 7-4 Christ Koumadje, 6-10 Isaac and fifth-year graduate student Michael Ojo, who looks more like a football lineman at 7-1 and 304 pounds.
"We compete with Florida State for everything," UM coach Jim Larranaga said before the game.
"Our admissions office competes with theirs for students. Our football programs have been battling each other, won national championships, baseball teams the same way. Basketball for a while was pretty much dominated by FSU, but we've been very fortunate to make it much more of a rivalry. The teams are pretty close in terms of records against each other. Should be a great game."
It was. Until halftime.
The Hurricanes, struggling from the perimeter, got to the foul line early and often. They made 11 of 12 free throws in the first half and also outrebounded the taller Seminoles 16-14.
But FSU made adjustments at the half and came out on fire while the Hurricanes came undone.
FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, who spent 10 years at Miami from 1990-2000, was expecting a tough game from the Canes.
"We are facing a very hungry UM team, so we're going to have to step it up," he said before the game.
The Hurricanes dropped to 14-7, 4-5 in the ACC. The Noles improved to 19-4 and 7-3 in the ACC.
Larranaga said this is the best FSU team he has seen since he joined the league six years ago. Hard to argue after Wednesday night.
Miami travels to N.C. State for a Saturday game. FSU plays at home against Clemson on Sunday.
