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Accidental tip-in gives FSU win over Florida (w/video)

 
Published Dec. 31, 2014

TALLAHASSEE — Florida State guard Montay Brandon didn't believe his eyes as the Seminoles scored the winning basket against rival Florida on Tuesday night. He literally had to look at the scoreboard to confirm what he saw.

Teammate Devon Bookert had just badly missed a 3-pointer in a tie game as the clock wound down, but somehow the ball found its way through the net. The ball took an odd bounce off the rim because it was short, and Florida forward Jacob Kurtz accidentally tipped in the miss with 0.4 seconds left to give FSU a 65-63 win, snapping the Gators' five-game winning streak in the series dating to 2008.

The fluke play saved the Seminoles after they gave up an alley-oop from Kasey Hill to Dorian Finney-Smith with eight seconds left to tie the score at 63.

"That was crazy," Brandon said. "I thought he had a rebound. I guess it just slipped out of his hand. I don't know how to explain it, but I was just happy.

"At first I was looking around like, did that happen? Then I saw the scoreboard change and I was like, 'Oh man, we're winning.' I started going crazy."

Brandon's two free throws gave the Seminoles a five-point lead with 49 seconds left. The two-possession lead seemed to be enough, but Hill hit a transition layup, was fouled and made the free throw. Then the alley-oop was set up off an offensive rebound.

Brandon and Hill had 17 points each for FSU, and freshman Xavier Rathan-Mayes added 13. Finney-Smith had 14 points and seven rebounds and Tampa's Michael Frazier added 11 points for Florida.

FSU used a 14-2 run midway through the second half to go ahead 49-42 with 7:23 left, its biggest lead of the game. The Gators responded with five straight baskets after going scoreless for 4:57. A Hill steal and layup with 3:57 left tied the score at 54.

"That was probably the first time I've seen a game end like that," Hill said. "That was not Jacob Kurtz's fault at all. That was everybody's fault. We made some mental errors and that's what killed us. It wasn't Jake's fault at all."

Both teams entered with serious offensive woes. The Seminoles ranked 111th in the country with 71.3 points per game, and the Gators were 185th with 68. Those numbers held true in the first half as the teams combined for 19 field goals and 24 turnovers.

"I didn't think it was a very well-played game by both teams," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "Both teams played and competed hard, but it wasn't a very clean game. … There was a lot of mental lapses by both teams.

"We lost on a fluke play, but even if that play didn't happen, what's to say they still wouldn't have won that game in overtime."