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Another scoring outburst enters lore

FSU freshman joins a list of rainmakers
Xavier Rathan-Mayes exploded late Wednesday against Miami. He didn’t complete the comeback, but he scored 30 points in 4½ minutes.

Now Florida State guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes’ name can be etched into sports lore alongside the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and “Pistol” Pete Maravich.

They’re on a short list of players to get into such an offensive “zone” that their performances led to memorable scoring outbursts.

Rathan-Mayes, a little-known freshman guard from Canada, erupted for 30 points in the final 4 minutes, 38 seconds in Wednesday’s failed comeback at Miami.

“It was a crazy feeling just to be locked into a zone like that,” Rathan-Mayes said Thursday. “I was telling my dad earlier that I’d never been in a zone like that.”

He went 8-for-10 from the field, 6-for-8 from 3-point range and 8-for-9 at the foul line during his flurry, all while checking in and out of the game late because of foul trouble. He almost single-handedly erased an 18-point deficit before FSU lost 81-77.

Rathan-Mayes, who came in averaging 13.6 points, finished with 35 points to tie his own program freshman record set in last month’s loss at North Carolina. He also passed Bob Sura for FSU’s single-season freshman scoring record during the game.

FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said he was so disappointed with the loss it took time to realize what Rathan-Mayes had done.

“I hadn’t (immediately) accepted the fact that I’d just witnessed a youngster do something that is extremely rare,” Hamilton said.

In a tip of the hat to Rathan-Mayes’ big game, here’s a look at some other memorable scoring outbursts:

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No one in college basketball ever scored like “Pistol” Pete Maravich.

The LSU guard still holds the NCAA’s career record with 3,667 points and 44.2-point career average.

In a career filled with 50- and 60-point games, Maravich’s best output came in February 1970 at Alabama, where he went for 69 points – 47 after halftime – on 26-for-57 shooting along with going 17-for-21 on free throws in the 106-104 loss.

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Hard to believe, but May marks 20 years since Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller singlehandedly pulled off a shocking comeback. With his team trailing by six in Game 1 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals, Miller scored eight points in the final 18.7 seconds to beat the New York Knicks 107-105 in Madison Square Garden. After hitting a 3 over John Starks, Miller stole the ensuing inbounds pass, took a quick dribble to step behind the arc and buried another 3 to tie it with 13.2 seconds left. Then after Starks missed two free throws, Miller was fouled on a rebound and hit two free throws for the lead with 7.5 seconds left. The always-talkative Miller walked off the MSG court in defiant celebration yelling “Choke artists!” and sealing the moment in NBA playoff lore.

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It isn’t Bryant or Michael Jordan who owns the NBA playoff record for scoring in a half and a quarter. It’s Eric “Sleepy” Floyd. In the 1987 playoffs, Floyd set records with 29 points and 12 field goals in a quarter, as well as 39 points in a half for Golden State in a Western Conference semifinals win against the Lakers. In the years since, there have been players to flirt with those marks – Detroit’s Isiah Thomas scored a Finals-record 25 points in a quarter in 1988 on an injured ankle – but Floyd still holds them.

AP freelance writer Brent Kallestad in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed to this report.



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