FSU ekes out 76-74 win over Clemson

Seminoles came into game just 2-5 on the road in league play.

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton was glad to see his players smiling and laughing — and their ACC play this season.

“T h e y were ve r y, ve r y happy in the locker room,” said a relieved Hamilton, whose team rallied after leading most of the way to defeat Clemson 76-74 on Saturday in Clemson, S.C.

The Seminoles (23-6, 11-5) came into Littlejohn Coliseum just 2-5 on the road in league play, including losses in their past two such games, at Notre Dame and at Pittsburgh.

But Xavier Rathan-Mayes hit the go-ahead basket with 1:22 left, and Florida State hung on.

“Knowing we can get down on the road and win in tough situations and play the way we did (today) is definitely optimistic for us,” said RathanMayes, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.

F S U ’ s J o n a t h a n I s a a c blocked Shelton Mitchell’s drive with 11 seconds left after Rathan-Mayes’ final hoop. After Trent Forrest made a free throw for the Seminoles, Marcquise Reed came up short on a midrange jumper with five seconds to go as the Seminoles held on to win their 23rd game in the regular season for the first time since 2008-09.

Florida State kept pace in the ACC race, remaining two games behind league leader North Carolina entering the final week of the season.

It was the latest in a string of near-misses for Clemson (14-14, 4-12), which fell to 1-9 in ACC games decided by six points or fewer. The Tigers’ last five ACC losses came by a combined 12 points.

Florida State looked ready to stretch this one out after Forrest had a basket and two foul shots to put the Seminoles up 69-64 with 4:19 to go. But Jaron Blossomgame answered with a basket, and Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to tie things once more.

The Seminoles are one of the ACC’s best teams, but they struggle on the road, winning just two of their first seven games away from Tallahassee. They lost their past two on the road at Notre Dame and at Pitt before playing Clemson. Florida State tapped into those struggles Saturday, getting outscored 16-10 in the final 7 minutes of the opening half to lead by just 38-37. The Seminoles led the Tigers 51-25 at halftime in their matchup three weeks ago in Tallahassee, a 109-61 FSU rout.

Blossomgame finished with a game-high 24 points, his 12th game scoring 20 or more this season.

Isaac had 14 points and Dwayne Bacon added 12 for Florida State, which travels to play at No. 10 Duke on Tuesday night.

FAU 73, UTSA 66: Adonis Filer scored 20 points off the bench and Nick Rutherford added 14 as the Owls (10-17, 6-10 Conference USA) defeated the Roadrunners (12-17, 7-9) in Boca Raton. UTSA, which was led in scoring by Giovanni De Nicolao’s 15 points, was held to 38 percent shooting in the loss.

UTEP 90, FIU 76: Matt Willms scored 23 points, shooting 10 for 13, and Dominic Artis was 7 for 11 and scored 21 points to lead UTEP past Florida International.

Cameron Smith’s layup with 7:22 left before halftime brought the Golden Panthers to within 25-24, but UTEP (1315, 11-5 Conference USA) went on a 16-6 run and led by 11 (4130) at intermission.

Florida International (6-23, 2-14) cut the deficit to seven on three occasions after halftime but couldn’t get closer. Omega Harris scored 19 points, Paul Thomas 15, and Trey Touchet 12. Donte McGill led FIU with 18 points, Eric Lockett and Eric Nottage each scored 14 and Elmo Stephen 11.