FSU falls at home to Clemson
Missed free throws doom Seminoles
TALLAHASSEE — It wasn’t how FSU planned it.
FSU (12-11, 4-6 ACC) got off to the hot start it had talked about — jumping to an early six-point lead against visiting Clemson (14-8, 6-4 ACC) — but the Tigers quickly extinguished that fire on their way to a 62-56 victory at the Donald L. Tucker Center late Wednesday night.
The Seminoles suffered a lack of execution on both ends of the floor and from the free-throw line. FSU shot 35.7 percent from the floor and went 12-of-21 from the free-throw line to end a two-game win streak.
All nine of FSU’s missed free throws came in the second half.
“We’re a much better free-throw team than we showed tonight,” FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. “They took advantage of the opportunities that we did not, and that was the difference in the game.”
For just over a fourminute scoreless period, Clemson held only a fivepoint lead over the Seminoles.
But FSU missed a pair of front-end free throws that could have dug it out of a hole, followed by a couple more crucial misses from the same spot, and the Tigers took advantage.
“Those of you that watch the ACC know that you can’t afford to miss opportunities,” Hamilton said. “We put ourselves in the situation where it’s hard to dig yourself out of a ditch.”
“We put ourselves in the situation where it’s hard to dig yourself out of a ditch.”
Three players accounted for 66 percent of the Seminoles’ offense against the Tigers, while the rest of the team struggled to get anything going.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes had a team-high 15 points, adding four rebounds and a steal.
Boris Bojanovsky finished with a double-double — 13 points and 10 rebounds — while Devon Bookert added 10 points.
The Seminoles will now travel to Virginia Tech on Saturday at 3 p.m. to take on the Hokies.