FSU's Cleveland hits buzzer-beater to stun Virginia, 64-63

Freshman guard Matthew Cleveland caught a long pass with one second remaining and hit a turnaround 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Florida State men's basketball team a stunning 64-63 victory Saturday at Virginia.

The shot, which capped off a dramatic double-digit comeback in the final four minutes, gave the Seminoles just their second win in their last 10 games and might have knocked the host Cavaliers out of contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"I did know it was good," Cleveland said, when asked if his shot felt on the money as soon as he released it. "Got the pass, turned and shot it ... I either knew it was good or it was long. Just glad it went in."

Cleveland scored 20 points to propel the Seminoles, who improved to 15-13 on the season and 8-10 in ACC play. Virginia falls to 17-12, 11-8.

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FSU, which is still playing without four injured starters, fell behind by 10 points when Virginia's Jayden Gardner scored with 3:26 remaining. But the Seminoles outscored the Cavaliers by a margin of 18-7 down the stretch to secure the win after a frenetic final seconds.

The Seminoles trailed by two points with six seconds remaining when Cleveland hit his second-to-last shot, a driving layup that tied the game at 61-61. Then Virginia countered with what appeared to be the game-winner when Armaan Franklin hit a jumper in the lane with one second remaining.

But FSU called timeout and set up the play where Cleveland caught a long inbounds pass from walk-on center Harrison Prieto, spun to his left and threw up a fadeaway 3-pointer that hit nothing but net.

Cleveland scored eight of his 20 points in the final 45 seconds.

"He realized we needed somebody to step up and give us a little extra ... and he rose to the occasion," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

Prieto also scored 14 points in the victory.

Virginia senior Jayden Gardner led the Cavaliers with 21 points while junior Armaan Franklin added 14.

Florida State has now won six of its last nine games against Virginia, dating back to 2016.

The Seminoles return home Wednesday night to play visiting Notre Dame.

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