Shooting woes cost Miami against No. 15 FSU

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The shots weren't falling inside or out for Miami, and the Hurricanes' five-game winning streak ended as a result.

The Hurricanes (15-8, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) struggled to make 3-pointers and they couldn't get center Reggie Johnson going on the offensive end of the floor Saturday in a 64-59 loss to No. 15 Florida State. The defeat snapped Miami's program-best winning streak in the conference.

Kenny Kadji had 14 points and six rebounds, and Durand Scott added 12 points and five rebounds for the Hurricanes.

Florida State (17-7, 8-2) used a 12-3 run midway through the second half to pull away as the Seminoles held on despite allowing the Hurricanes to pull within three points in the final minute.

"They had a little stretch where they just played a little bit better than us," Scott said. "Today we just fell short."

While Miami outrebounded Florida State 35-29, the Seminoles were effective inside. Florida State's Bernard James had 15 of his 18 points in the second half, and he made 7 of 8 shots from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

"They were able to get him the ball in good scoring location," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "He's a man out there. He's strong. He's very much emotionally in control. He doesn't seem to get flustered by anything. And he was able to take his time inside and finish some tough shots."

The Seminoles, who began the day tied with Duke and North Carolina for first place in the league, have conference wins over the Tar Heels and Blue Devils among their league wins while their only ACC losses came at Clemson and Boston College.

"Hopefully we can be more consistent as we move through the rest of our season," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We bounced back today."

Miami is now 1-11 against Florida State since the 2005-06 season, and the Hurricanes have not defeated the Seminoles since January 21, 2009.

Florida State led 50-40 with 7:31 left after an Ian Miller 3-pointer, but Miami was able to trim the lead down to just three, 60-57, after Kadji made a layup and then a free throw with 31 seconds left.

But the Seminoles made 4 of 6 free-throw attempts in the final 28 seconds to seal the win.

Miami misfired from long range and finished just 5 of 22 (22.7 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc. The Hurricanes had made 35.9 percent of their 3-point attempts coming into the game.

The Hurricanes shot 39.3 percent (22 of 56) for the game. Johnson, who had 27 points and 12 rebounds in the upset at Duke, was held to just four points and six rebounds.

And starting point guard Shane Larkin, son of baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, finished with five points on 1-for-9 shooting.

"It's one of those games that came down to the wire," Larranaga said. "They were just a little big better than us in that one stretch."

James, who is shooting 60 percent from the floor this season, missed four of his five attempts in the first half and Hamilton made some changes at halftime to try and give him a bit more operating room inside.

"We had a difficult time getting him going because of the defensive job that Reggie Johnson was doing," Hamilton said. "His massive body throws you off. You end up bouncing off of him."