The Florida State Seminoles (19-8 8-7 in ACC) scored 50 points in the second half after trailing by one at halftime & beat the Pittsburgh Panthers 88-75 on Sunday night in Tallahassee. Seminoles Guard P.J. Savoy, a surprise starter, led all scorers with 18 points. While the Panthers (8-20 0-15 in ACC) struggled to maintain their halftime one point lead after three players fouled out in the final 20 minutes.
Because Savoy hit his first two three point attempts, the Seminoles jumped out to a 6-0 lead. And it wasn't until there were over three and half minutes gone in the game before the Panthers scored their first basket. But with no other Seminoles scoring another basket for nearly seven minutes, the Panthers were able to score 11 unanswered points. The Panthers 11-0 run included three pointers from Guard Shamiel Stevenson, Forward Terrell Brown & Guard Jonathan Milligan. And after Guard Parker Stewart added another three pointer, the Panthers had a 17-11 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
Trailing by six, the Seminoles tied the game at 17 after Savoy hit another three pointer. And after a dunk by Stevenson, Savoy added two free throws & a hoop plus a free throw by Forward Mfiondu Kabengele gave Florida State the lead again. And even with Guard Jared Wilson-Frame hitting another three for the Panthers, Florida State kept the lead. That is until Stewart hit three straight three pointers, the last one putting the Panthers up 34-30 with over four minutes left in the first half. The Panthers kept that lead until Guard M.J. Walker hit two free throws with four seconds left in the half. But Panthers Guard Marcus Carr added another three pointer at the halftime buzzer, giving Pittsburgh a one point 39-38 lead after 20 minutes.
Pittsburgh shot 50% from the floor in the first half, hitting on 14 baskets but 10 of those hoops were from behind the three point line. Meanwhile Florida State hit 16 free throws but missed on seven, failing on the chance to enter the locker room with the lead. Both teams were led by hot-shooting guards. Stewart, who didn't miss a shot in the first half, led the Panthers with 12 points, all from behind the arc. But the first half's leading scorer was Savoy with 14.
The second half started with three lead changes in the first two minutes. But after Savoy hit his first three pointer of the second half & Kabengele hit on two free throws, the Seminoles took a 47-41 lead. The lead jumped up to eight after a layup by Guard Trent Forrest with over 14 minutes left in the game. And the Seminoles lead was 58-48 after a dunk by Guard Phil Cofer.
The Panthers chipped away at that 10 point Florida State lead & after an old-fashioned three pointer by Wilson-Frame, the game was tied at 65. But the Seminoles got four straight points from Cofer with just over five minutes left in the game. And after the score was tied at 65, the Seminoles outscored the Panthers 23-10 & held the Panthers to just two three pointers in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Florida State will seek their third straight conference win when they travel to Raleigh, North Carolina to take on North Carolina State next Sunday night at 6 pm.