Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
No. 20 Seminoles rally to win ACC opener
TALLAHASSEE — Florida State rarely trailed in nonconference play. So when the 20th-ranked Seminoles found themselves down by eight points less than six minutes into Wednesday’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Wake Forest, coach Leonard Hamilton knew he was going to find out who on his young team could handle playing from behind.
After one test, FSU could say it handled itself well.
After trailing for most of the game, the Seminoles went on a run of 17 straight points over a 4-minute span in the second half as they posted an 88-72 victory over the Demon Deacons.
“I think we are growing and maturing through the process. The quality of our depth was a big factor,” Hamilton said.
Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes each scored 23 points and led the Seminoles during the decisive run as Bacon had seven points and Rathan-Mayes five. Florida State trailed 66-61 before making seven straight shots from the field and forcing Wake to commit four turnovers as it took a 78-66 lead with 4:50 remaining.
“We were able to get out and run and play in the full court set. I think we did a really good job of locking in defensively,” said RathanMayes, who had a seasonhigh in points. “Once we were able to do that it sparked our offense and we were able to go on a little bit of a run.”
Jonathan Isaac added 13 points and CJ Walker had 12 for Florida State (12-1, 1-0), which has won nine straight for the first time since 2003-04 and is off to its best start since going 16-1 in 1988-89.
The Demon Deacons (9-3, 0-1) were looking for their first road win in a conference opener since 2006-07 but couldn’t contend with Florida State’s size. Center Doral Moore suffered a leg injury 2 minutes into the game and did not return and leading scorer John Collins was held to two points.
Keyshawn Woods and Bryant Crawford led Wake with 16 points each.
“We definitely let them off the hook,” Woods said. “We were up by 1 at halftime, then had a 5-point lead [in the second half], and they hit us in the mouth and we didn’t respond.”
A layup by RathanMayes with 15:47 left in the first half made the junior the 46th player in school history to score more than 1,000 points during his career. Rathan-Mayes’ father, Tharon, played at FSU from 1988-90 and scored 1,260 points. According to Florida State, this is the first fatherson duo in ACC history to both score 1,000 points.
“It feels amazing. When I committed to Florida State I wanted to do something special in honor of my dad,” Rathan-Mayes said. “Just to be in the 1,000-point club, and be the first father-son duo to do that in ACC history it means the world to me.”
The Seminoles have their first ACC road game on Saturday against No. 12 Virginia. FSU has not defeated a ranked conference foe on the road since 2012.
UM wins
Miami’s Ja’Quan Newton recorded 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists, leading the Hurricanes (10-2) to a 78-67 win over Columbia (4-6) on Wednesday night.
UM opens ACC play at home against NC State Saturday at 4 p.m.
Late game
UCF’s game did not end in time for today’s newspaper. For results, go to sunsentinel.com/sports.