A second straight season sweep and a fifth straight win over Clemson wasn’t in the cards for Florida State on Wednesday night as the Seminoles fell to the No. 18 Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum, 76-63.
The 13-point margin wasn’t indicative of the competitive nature of the contest. The Tigers (22-7, 11-6 ACC) led 64-61 with under three minutes to play after a 3-pointer by Florida State’s Phil Cofer, but closed the game on a 12-1 run to salvage the season split. After Elijah Thomas split a pair of free throws with 2:11 to play to make it 65-61, Shelton Mitchell delivered the dagger with a triple with 1:28 to play.
The Seminoles (19-10, 8-9 ACC) led by as many as seven in the first half at 19-12, thanks to a 10-0 run. Clemson was able to take a 35-32 lead into the locker room after Mitchell knocked down a trey in the waning seconds of the half.
The last lead for FSU came with about 11 minutes to play as C.J. Walker converted a steal into a layup to make it 47-45 after consecutive 3-pointers by Braian Angola gave the Seminoles their first lead of the half. Clemson responded with a 7-0 run, going ahead for good on a 3-pointer by Clyde Trapp that hit the top of the glass and fell back in.
The Seminoles twice pulled to within two after falling behind 52-47, but could get no closer. Florida State shot 42 percent to Clemson’s 40, but was outrebounded 39-30 and outshot from deep. The Tigers finished 10-for-26 for the second time this season against FSU while the Seminoles were 9 of 23. After turning it over a season-high 21 times in the first meeting in Tallahassee — an FSU overtime victory — the Tigers committed just nine turnovers on Wednesday night to FSU’s 12.
Marcquise Reed finished with a game-high 22 points and five assists to pace Clemson in the win. Gabe DeVoe chipped in with 13 points while Thomas and Mitchell each added 11 in the Tiger victory.
Cofer had a nice night for FSU, tallying 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting and a team-high seven rebounds. Angola was the only other player to hit double-figures for the Seminoles, finishing 4-for-7 with 11 points.
Both teams will wrap up the regular season on Saturday. Clemson will be at Syracuse while the Seminoles play host to Boston College.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
You must be logged in to post a comment Login