Matthew Cleveland scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help host Florida State survive for a 73-72 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Seminoles (4-10, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won for the third time in their past four games despite not scoring for the final two-plus minutes of the game.
The Fighting Irish (7-5, 0-2 ACC) dropped their third consecutive game, and they fell to 0-7 all-time against Florida State in Tallahassee.
Florida State led 73-66 with 2:06 remaining before JJ Starling singlehandedly chipped away at the gap, scoring six consecutive points to cut the lead to a point with 37 seconds left.
The Seminoles’ Darin Green Jr. missed a 3-pointer off the backboard and Notre Dame regained possession with 6.5 seconds left.
However, as Trey Wertz pushed the ball up the court, his lead pass to Cormac Ryan sailed past the mark and Green secured it, allowing the Seminoles to run out the clock.
Cleveland became the first Florida State player to record three consecutive double-doubles since 1995.
Caleb Mills and Cameron Corhen each scored 18 points to complement Cleveland’s efforts, and Jalen Warley totaled nine points and five assists.
Starling led Notre Dame with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Ryan finished with 17 points and six rebounds, and Nate Laszewski had 12 points and six rebounds. Wertz finished with 10 points and four assists.
The game had 12 lead changes overall, though Notre Dame threatened to pull away early, going up 29-18 and 31-20 before going into the break ahead just 39-38. The Irish shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half, 50.9 percent overall.
The Seminoles shot 47.4 percent and played one of their cleanest games of the season, committing only five turnovers while recording 15 assists.
–Field Level Media