FSU advances to ACC quarters, beats Maryland on last-second dunk
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Boris Bojanovsky took a pass from Okaro White and threw down a dunk with 0.4 seconds left to lift Florida State past Maryland 67-65 in Thursday's second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Bojanovsky's dunk capped a tense final 2 minutes that saw Maryland fight back from an 11-point deficit and twice tie it. But the final score advanced the ninth-seeded Seminoles (19-12) and ended the eighth-seeded Terrapins' long run in the ACC as it heads for the Big Ten this summer.
With the seconds ticking down, Ian Miller sent a pass into the post for White, who immediately flipped the ball to a waiting Bojanovsky on the left block for the winning score.
Bojanovsky's basket capped a huge performance for the sophomore big man, who finished with 12 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. He also came through at the line, hitting two free throws with 36.2 seconds left after Maryland had fought back to tie the game at 63 on Jake Layman's transition dunk with 1:49 left.
Miller finished with 17 points to lead the Seminoles, who will face sixth-ranked and top-seeded Virginia in Friday's quarterfinals. Florida State shot 48 percent for the game, including 54 percent after halftime.
Dez Wells scored 18 points to lead Maryland (17-15), including two free throws with 15.1 seconds left to tie it after Bojanovsky's free throws.
The Terrapins closed the regular season with an overtime upset of the Cavaliers, sending them on their final ACC trip to Greensboro hoping to bolster their chances of making it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010. But things got off to a bad start with Evan Smotrycz -- who came in averaging 11 points and scored 13 in the Virginia upset -- battling back spasms that ultimately kept him sidelined.
Maryland led 34-32 at halftime behind Seth Allen's early burst and 43-42 on Wells' dunk at the 14:34 mark, but the Terps hit a 4-minute scoring drought that opened the door for the Seminoles. Aaron Thomas led the 11-0 charge by jumping in front of a pass near halfcourt for a steal and a breakaway dunk followed by a 3-pointer before Bojanovsky ended the run with a putback to make it 53-43 with 10:34 to play.
The Terrapins climbed back in it and tied it on Layman's dunk only to have Bojanovsky have an even bigger one that closed their ACC tenure.
Allen scored 18 points and hit four 3-pointers for Maryland, which shot 35 percent after halftime.
