UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Key misses late stymied a Florida State comeback effort and the Seminoles lost their third straight, 75-69 to UMass in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic on Sunday.
Seminoles guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes missed a pair of free throws with 15.1 seconds remaining and UMass leading 73-69. He rebounded the second miss and then missed a 3-pointer.
FSU played the second half without its best player, guard Aaron Thomas, who became ill at halftime and was hospitalized. He went through a battery of tests, and doctors believe he was just dehydrated, a university spokesman told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Thomas said on Twitter he had returned to the team and was headed back to Tallahassee.
"No worries," he wrote.
Rathan-Mayes led the Seminoles (1-3) with 22 points. Boris Bojanovsky came off the bench to score 18 for FSU, which scored the first eight points of the game on the way to a 35-34 halftime lead.
Jabarie Hinds and freshman Donte Clark led UMass with 15 points each.
"(Clark) hit some timely shots," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Any time you've got a guy coming off the bench to give you that type of lift in a nip-and-tuck game, it gives you a tremendous boost."
Hinds and Trey Davis combined to hit five of six free throws in the final 29.4 seconds for UMass.
"Just coming away and gutting out a win (Sunday) is great for the team and the program," said UMass coach Derek Kellogg, whose team improved to 4-1.