LOS ANGELES — We’re in the month of madness, when buzzer beaters slay giants and Cinderella dances well beyond midnight. This tournament has long been known for chaos, and everyone will tell you it’s not over until it’s over.

Unless you’re Florida State, evidently.

The Seminoles, just a few weeks removed from being the No. 8 seed in the ACC tournament, made a tremendous run to the Elite Eight, ultimately falling 58-54 to Michigan in the West Regional final Saturday at Staples Center.

Unfortunately for Florida State, it will likely be remembered for some clumsy management in the final 1:06 of a game that could have sent the Seminoles to their first Final Four since 1972.

Not that coach Leonard Hamilton would agree with that analysis.

With Florida down 58-54 with 13 seconds to go, Hamilton elected not to foul and put Michigan at the line, which would have stopped the clock. When asked outside the locker room by TBS's Dana Jacobson why no foul, Hamilton gave the veteran sideline reporter a bizarre look. “You think that the game came down to the final seconds of the game? … the game was over.”
Well, it wasn't. It was also plenty weird before that, too.

With 1:16 left, Florida State's P.J. Savoy hit a triple, pulling FSU within three 55-52. Though the Seminoles had plenty of time to get a defensive stop, they let 10 seconds go off the clock before Savoy fouled Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, putting him at the line. Abdur-Rahkman missed the front end, and FSU got the ball back. On the other end, Savoy rushed an attempt from three, missing with 56 seconds to go.

Michigan got the rebound. Then a whopping 17 seconds — precious time late in a game situation — went off the clock before Florida State fouled again to stop the clock. When the Seminoles eventually put Michigan’s Zavier Simpson at the line with 39 seconds to go, the sophomore guard made the first and missed the second.

Florida State missed two more attempts after that — a layup and another long bomb from Savoy — eventually trading a made basket with another Michigan free throw. Michigan corralled its final defensive rebound with 13 seconds left, up 58-54.

Some coaches consider that an eternity. Just three weeks ago, Louisville led then-No. 1 Virginia by four points with one second to go, and blew it, ultimately losing 67-66 to the Cavaliers after a series of disastrous plays.

Florida State must have missed that SportsCenter highlight.

“I don't remember exactly what the situation was to be very honest with you,” Hamilton said when asked about FSU's decision-making down 55-52. “But there was one situation where we thought it was best not to foul because we thought that we could get the ball back and still have an opportunity to score because it seemed like there were like 15 seconds difference in the shot clock, if we could just hold them. It might have been a one- or two-point game at that point. Maybe a two-point game. And we thought if we stopped them, we'd have an opportunity to come down and score.”

Complicating the situation, Florida State had used its final timeout with 2:15 to go. But there was clearly miscommunication somewhere. Florida State was down one, 29-28, with 19:16 left, but trailed by three or more for the rest of the night. The Seminoles cut it to three multiple times down the stretch, but could never get closer than that.

“It's very easy to micro-evaluate when the game's over,” Hamilton said. “You can go back and really try to dissect it and see what you could have done. But there are no absolutes.”