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No. 14 Michigan rallies, tops Florida State in OT

Nov 23, 2013 - 2:34 AM San Juan, PR (SportsNetwork.com) - Nik Stauskas scored seven of his career- high 26 points in overtime after forcing the extra session with a driving layup late in regulation to lead the 14th-ranked Michigan Wolverines to an 82-80 victory over Florida State to advance to the finals of the Puerto Rico Tip- Off.

Stauskas and the Wolverines (4-1) overcame a sluggish start and played from behind for most of the contest. FSU (4-1) led by as many as 16 points early in the second half before Michigan switched to a 1-3-1 zone defensively.

"We've been working on the 1-3-1," said freshman point guard Derrick Walton Jr. "We just thought it would work at that time. We went with it, trusted it, and it worked for us."

Three straight turnovers against the zone late in regulation led to a Glenn Robinson III triple and two free throws, as the Seminoles' lead was down to 67-65.

"I kind of figured that coach would use the 1-3-1 tonight," said Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton. "We worked on it a little bit this morning in our walkthrough in the ballroom. I thought our players were extremely tentative when they went to it."

Both teams traded a pair of foul shots and FSU took the clock down on its next possession, but Devon Bookert's corner 3 was off the mark. Out of a timeout, Stauskas took the inbounds pass and went straight to the rim, finishing from the left side to knot the score.

Robinson's baseline jumper got things going for Michigan in overtime. The Wolverines held their lead behind Stauskas and led by three late in the extra session before Walton Jr. secured the biggest rebound of his young career off of a Montay Brandon missed floater.

Walton sank a pair of free throws -- which would prove to be the difference -- with 14.8 seconds left.

Michigan will meet Charlotte in the final on Sunday.

Mitch McGary came off the bench and tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds in the triumph, while Walton and Robinson added 15 and 13 points, respectively.

"I want to credit Florida State on their play," said McGary. "Tonight was a battle and I think we stuck together and showed our core values."

Okaro White recorded an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double for Florida State. Ian Miller scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half, and Brandon filled the stat sheet with 14 points, five boards and a team-high four assists.

Michigan made three treys early on but went cold for the rest of the first half. Florida State jumped out to an 11-point lead on a White floater in the lane before McGary made his presence felt. The sophomore big man scored four points in a row and corralled a number of difficult rebounds in the closing minutes of the first half to keep Michigan within striking distance, but Miller's late triple from the right wing put FSU in front 37-27 at the break.

The Seminoles opened the second half on a 6-0 run to build its largest lead. Stauskas scored five straight midway through the frame to make it 52-46, and a deep Spike Albrecht 3-pointer at the 9:04 mark had the Wolverines back to within four..

Brandon netted eight in a row for FSU after that and White split a pair at the free throw line for a 64-56 FSU edge before Walton finished through contact at the rim for a three-point play around the final media timeout.

Game Notes

Stauskas has scored 20-plus points in four straight games ... FSU outscored Michigan 44-26 in the paint ... The Wolverines had just seven turnovers while forcing 13 ... Michigan beat Long Beach State in the quarterfinals, 85-61, while Florida State advanced with an 85-67 upset over No. 10 VCU.