In Tallahassee on Wednesday night, the Florida State Seminoles (18-8 7-7 in ACC) rallied from an 18 point deficit in the 2nd half to upset the 11th ranked Clemson Tigers 81-79 in OT. Trailing by 12 at halftime, the Seminoles rebound from a bad shooting first half to finish the game shooting over 52% & were led by Guard Phil Cofer, who scored all of his 17 points in the second half & overtime. While the Tigers (20-5 9-4 in ACC) committed a season high 20 turnovers in the game.
The game started with both teams needing at least 60 seconds before scoring. And the first points of the game came when Clemson Guard Shelton Mitchell hit a three pointer. Actually, the Tigers lead went to 5-0 after Forward Aamir Simms made a dunk. And it wasn't until nearly two and half minutes were gone in the game when Seminoles Guard Braian Angola got a dunk of his own to put Florida State in the scoring column.
The Tiger got their next five points from a short jumper by Simms & a three pointer from Forward Mark Donnal. Meanwhile after getting on the scoreboard, it took another two minutes before the Seminoles got another point & did when Center Ike Obiagu hit a free throw. But as badly as the Seminole were shooting, their deficit stayed at 10-3 because neither team scored in nearly three minutes.
As the first half entered the 12 minute mark, both teams got a three pointer from their backcourt, the first one coming from the Tigers Marcquise Reed followed by a three from the Seminoles M.J. Walker. Walker then hit a jumper on the Seminoles next possession, giving them five points in 30 seconds after struggling to score two points in nearly eight minutes. But that brief 5-0 run ended when the Tigers scored 10 straight points. First Mitchell added another three pointer, backcourt mate Gabe Devoe hit two free throws, plus another three pointer. And the run ended when another guard, Clyde Trapp hit a layup.
Trailing by 15 points entering the final 10 minutes of the first half, the Seminoles strung together 10 points, all from Guard Terrence Mann. Mann drilled a three pointer, got fouled after hitting a layup to get the old-fashioned three pointer & hit another shot in the paint. Plus on the Seminoles next trip down the court, Mann hit two more free throws after being fouled.
Leading by five, Clemson outscored Florida State 18-11 in the final six minutes of the first half. The Tigers saw their lead shrink again to five when Florida State Guard P.J. Savoy was fouled shooting a three pointer & hit all three free throws. But after Savoy's free throws, Reed, who scored 11 points in a little over five minutes at the end of the half, converted a four point play after hitting a three pointer then the free throw. That four point play doubled the amount of points the Seminoles scored in the remaining two & a half minutes of the first half.
After shooting 7 for 16 on three pointers & hitting 8 of 9 free throws, Clemson took a 41-29 lead into halftime. And they started the second half by getting the lead to 15 after Devoe drilled a three pointer. The two teams traded baskets until Simms kept the Tigers hot shooting from three point land when he hit one of his own. The Seminoles did get an old-fashioned three pointer by Mann, then two baskets from C.J. Walker, giving Florida State seven straight points.
After Reed, who led all scorers with 23 points, rang up another three pointer for Clemson, the Seminoles started getting into the paint & scored 10 straight points. First Cofer hit on back to back layups & then Guard Trent Forrest hit another layup. And the remaining four points of the 10-0 Florida State run came on a dunk & jumper from Angola. The Tigers scored four points after the Seminoles run but Florida State made the score 55-53 after Angola hit a three pointer followed by another three from Savoy.
The teams exchanged multiple baskets until another basket by Cofer tied the game up at 59 with just over seven minutes left in the regulation. That hoop was then followed by seven straight points ending with a three pointer from Devoe. Then trailing 66-59, Florida State got more points from Cofer, this hoop a three pointer, cutting the deficit to four. And after Reed hit a layup to give the Tigers a six point lead, Florida State outscored Clemson 8-2 in the final three minutes of regulation, forcing overtime after Forrest hit a short jumper with 9 seconds left on the clock.
The extra session began similar to the first half with both teams struggling to score. Neither team was able to covert a hoop in nearly three minutes, with the only point of coming from a free throw made by Tigers Forward Elijah Thomas. Thomas added the first hoop of overtime when he hit on a layup while being fouled. And with the made free throw Clemson led 74-70, but the Seminoles scored the next seven points of overtime, three coming from CJ Walker & two hoops in the paint from Forrest. The first hoop by Forrest gave the Seminoles their first lead of the game.
With the Seminoles leading 77-74 & under 30 seconds left in the game, the remaining time on the clock included both teams committing questionable fouls but in the end the Seminoles outscored the Tigers 11-5 in the final two minutes of overtime.
Florida State will look for another conference win when the Pittsburgh Panthers visit Tallahassee on Sunday at 6pm.