For the second straight game, No. 17 Florida State allowed an opposing forward to set a new career scoring high and for the second straight game, the Seminoles suffered a double-digit road loss.
Sheldon Jeter poured in a career-high 29 points on 12-for-14 shooting and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds on Saturday to lead Pittsburgh past FSU, 80-66. The Seminoles (21-6, 9-5 ACC) made their first seven shots from the field and eventually cooled off, but the Panthers (15-12, 4-10 ACC) never did.
Pittsburgh finished the day shooting 51 percent from the field and 10-for-22 from the 3-point line. FSU shot 46 percent from the floor, but just 5-for-18 from deep and again struggled at the foul line, going 9-for-15 which included missing two front ends of 1-and-1s in the game’s final six minutes.
The last FSU lead in the contest came with just over eight minutes to play in the first half, but consecutive Pitt triples by Jamel Artis and Jonathan Milligan gave the Panthers a 28-25 lead they would not relinquish. Pittsburgh led 41-37 at halftime and used a 17-4 run early in the second half to go up by 15.
The Seminoles managed to whittle that lead to as little as two at 64-62 on a jumper by Xavier Rathan-Mayes with more than six minutes to play. Thanks to Jeter and the ACC’s leading scorer Michael Young however, the Panthers answered with a 10-2 run to seize control.
Young finished with just 11 points, but dished out a game-high tying six assists in the Pittsburgh win. Artis finished with 16 points while shooting 3-for-5 from deep. Cameron Johnson added 10 points.
After scoring in double-figures in the first 26 games this season, FSU’s leading scorer Dwayne Bacon was held without a point on 0-for-4 shooting. Rathan-Mayes led FSU with 12 points and six assists. Jonathan Isaac and Terance Mann chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
After having a week off, FSU will not have a short turnaround as it returns home to face Boston College on Monday. Pittsburgh will look for its fourth win in five games as it visits Wake Forest on Wednesday night.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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