12/21/2022 basketball Edit

Cleveland, Corhen, Mills lead FSU to win over Notre Dame

Matthew Cleveland had his third straight double-double on Wednesday night. (Mike Olivella)

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

Call it a delayed takeoff for a young team, but Florida State is beginning to figure things out. Leonard Hamilton’s second-year veterans are starting to play like veterans — and the freshmen are growing up, too.

Matthew Cleveland scored 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, his fourth double-double in five games, and Cameron Corhen poured in a season-high 18 points as Florida State erased an 11-point first-half deficit and held on for a 73-72 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday night.

"Our guys were very, very focused," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We have some guys that are getting better. ... Cam Corhen, you see him stepping up, playing a little more relaxed. He wasn't unsure of himself like he has been. That's part of growing up for a freshman."

Trey Wertz lost the handle on Notre Dame’s final possession off an inbounds set following a timeout, gift-wrapping FSU’s second ACC win.

Cleveland had 19 points on 6 of 14 shooting. The sophomore is the first FSU player to have three straight double-doubles since Corey Louis in 1995.

"That's really cool," Cleveland said. "That's history."

Cleveland had 10 second-half points for the Seminoles (4-10, 2-1 ACC), who started the second half shooting 11 of 16 from the floor and were able to take control. The Seminoles led by seven, 73-67, with 2:06 to go but Nate Laszewski’s block of Caleb Mills sparked a fast break and enabled JJ Starling to get a layup at the other end to cut the deficit to 73-72 with 37 seconds left.

Darin Green Jr. lost the handle on the ball on FSU’s final possession, but he missed a 3-pointer as time expired. Notre Dame had one last opportunity, but the Fighting Irish couldn’t get a shot off.

Caleb Mills had 18 points on 6 of 13 shooting.

Corhen is growing up over the past few months, shooting 8 of 13 from the floor and pulling down seven rebounds (tying a season high). He started and played 31 minutes, seeing significant playing time as the Seminoles were without Naheem McLeod (who was on the bench but did not play).

Jalen Warley had nine points and five assists. FSU had just five turnovers and won the rebounding edge 29-28.

The Seminoles won for the third time in four games after opening 1-9. But they are also 2-1 in the ACC going into the long holiday break.

"To be 2-1 on the Christmas break, I think guys are going home with a positive feeling about what we're doing and the direction we're moving our program in," Hamilton said.

Starling had 20 points for Notre Dame (7-5, 0-2), which shot 9 of 19 from 3-point range.