When fans wake up on Wednesday, it will have been exactly one month since Florida State lost a basketball game. The No. 16 Seminoles set a new school-record on Tuesday night by winning their eighth straight ACC game, topping Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum, 77-64.
After Clemson used a 7-0 run to cut a 9-point lead down to two, FSU (21-5, 9-4 ACC) closed the first half on a 15-2 run to lead 38-23 at the break and seize control of the contest. The Tigers (15-11, 5-8 ACC) got as close as seven in the second half while Florida State’s lead ballooned to as many as 18.
Once Clemson got within seven at 59-52 on a David Skara layup with more than eight minutes to play, the Seminoles answered with a mini 8-1 run where Mfiondu Kabengele accounted for five of his team-high 19 points. Kabengele also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds in the victory.
In addition to Kabengele’s big night, Trent Forrest added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Seminoles. Christ Koumadje saw his streak of two consecutive double-doubles come to an end, but did score 10 points and grab seven rebounds. Both Koumadje and Kabengele had a pair of blocks.
FSU shot 48 percent in the win to just 38 percent for Clemson and held a 43-32 rebounding advantage. FSU completed the season sweep of Clemson after winning in Tallahassee last month to start the winning streak, 77-68. Overall, FSU has won six of seven in the series.
Marcquise Reed led Clemson on Tuesday night with a game-high 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting. Elijah Thomas added 13 points and six rebounds before fouling out. Shelton Mitchell scored 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting while Skara added 10 on an efficient 4-for-5.
After winning four straight, Clemson has now lost three in a row and will remain home to take on Boston College on Saturday. FSU goes for its ninth straight win and concludes a 3-game road trip on Saturday with a top-20 match-up against No. 8 North Carolina.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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