Clemson falls to No. 19 Florida State 76-74
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[Box score | Tiger Illustrated's In-game Thread]
CLEMSON -- Same story, different day. “Clemson Falls Short in a Heartbreaker” is a headline that has to be getting old to Clemson Basketball fans everywhere.
Saturday afternoon the Florida State Seminoles (23-6, 11-5) came into Littlejohn Coliseum and were able to hang on to defeat the Clemson Tigers (14-14, 4-12) in yet another tightly contested ACC battle, 76-74.
Florida State was led by the trio of Jonathan Isaac, Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes who combined for 41 points. Clemson’s Jaron Blossomgame had a game-high 24 points while shooting 7-of-11 from the field.
With 8.4 seconds to go, Florida State’s Trent Forrest went to the free throw line with a chance to put the Seminoles up three. Even though the game could have still gone either way, a few Clemson fans started to make their way towards the exits thinking that a loss was truly inevitable with recent history in mind.
Forrest made one of two and then Clemson’s Marcquise Reed went the length of the floor for the final shot. Reed put a spin move on his defender about 12 feet from the basket which gave him an open look to tie the game, but his off-balanced shot came up well short and Florida State was able to escape Clemson with its third ACC road victory of the year.
“This was a typical hard-fought ACC game,” said Florida State Coach Leonard Hamilton. “This is the new ACC … everyone is capable of winning and we feel very fortunate to come on the road and beat a very good Clemson team. I was very proud of our kids. They didn’t panic and they maintained their poise coming on the road. This was a very important game for us in terms of fighting for position in the ACC tournament.”
Florida State humiliated Clemson by 48 points in Tallahassee for the Seminoles' biggest win in conference history. Hamilton assured everyone that they just played very well that day and that his team did not underestimate Clemson.
“We know we are not 48 points better than Clemson. We knew real well that this was going to be a dog fight.”
Bacon and Isaac, who took control in the first half, were held in check for much of the second half. When his team needed him most, Rathan-Mayes’ leadership was key down the stretch as he scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
Hamilton had nothing but high praise for Rathan-Mayes’ performance, especially in the second half:
“Xavier is seeming to mature and learn more on how to lead this basketball team. I thought he did a very good job of managing the game and he attacked the basket really well. He took what the defense gave him and that showed a lot of maturity on his part.”
Although it's one of the top teams in the conference, Florida State came in just 2-5 on the road in ACC play and was locked in from the opening tip. The Seminoles came out with a suffocating man-to-man defense that disrupted the flow of Clemson’s offense. Clemson turned the ball over eight times in the first half, four of those coming in the first five possessions of the game. Florida State took advantage by securing 16 points off of turnovers in the first half alone.
A key factor in the game was free-throw shooting. Florida State’s tenacious hand checking and aggressive defense came with the price of 28 total personal fouls, 15 in the first half. Florida State also picked up its 10th team foul in the second half with 10:46 remaining. Clemson took advantage by shooting 26-of-32 from the free throw line to keep the game close and winnable.
Sidy Djitte played with tremendous confidence and poise going against the length of Florida State’s big men. His aggressiveness on both sides of the ball kept Clemson’s energy up, put Florida State in foul trouble and played an important role in giving Clemson a chance to win the game. He finished with 12 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.
The Tigers had Florida State right where they wanted in the second half. After being down 69-64, the Tigers sparked an 8-0 run to give them the lead and all the momentum with 2:41 remaining. Rathan-Mayes hit two free throws and a fast break layup following a Clemson miss to give them the lead for good. Clemson ended the game missing its last five field goal attempts, including what would have been the game-tying basket.
“We got the shot we wanted at the end of the game,” Coach Brad Brownell said. “We had a double-screen set up for Avry (Holmes) and if (Reed) saw that he was open he could have passed it and if he wanted to score, he could go score. He backed him off and he spun, got to 12-13 feet from the bucket and he is our best player at that. That’s one you live with.”
“The one we needed back was the one he (Reed) shot on the high wing corner. He rushed that one and that was a bad shot. That led to a fast break and a layup for them. That was the one possession that I didn’t really like.”
Clemson has now lost nine games by six points or less this season.
“Its very tough for us,” Djitte said. “But we cannot give up. We have worked so hard this summer and we have to continue to work hard these last two games.”
After coming up short in many games this season, Djitte said that his confidence in his team never faded as the last seconds on the clock approached.
“I believe in my teammates and we believe in what we do. At the moment, I was just saying ‘This is our time.’ We all kept saying that this is our time and we’re going to make this one. It sucks that it didn’t happen this time, but I know it will.”
Time is running out; the Tigers have two games remaining in the regular season, both at home against N.C. State and Boston College.
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