Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Bacon regains form in win
TALLAHASSEE — Dwayne Bacon saw the wide open lane and did not hesitate to lift off.
After going scoreless during Florida State’s last loss, breaking a 35-game double-digit scoring streak, Bacon’s empahatic one-handed slam dunk was a friendly reminder of his standout potential.
Bacon finished with 16 points, becoming the 46th player in school history to surpass 1,000 career points, as No. 17 FSU (22-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued its dominance at home with a 104-72 blowout win over Boston College (9-19, 2-13) on Monday night.
Bacon, needing only 11 points to surpass 1,000-point mark, began the second half with a 3-pointer near the top of the key to become the second sophomore in school history to achieve the feat.
The other, Bob Sura, who played at FSU from 1992-95, has his jersey hanging in the rafters of the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Shortly after the first media time out of the second half, Bacon flashed a bright smile as the crowd in attendance collectively cheered to commemorate the moment.
No person clapped harder in approval for Bacon than former teammate Malik Beasley, who enjoyed the game from the first row, taking advantage of the NBA All-Star break during his rookie season with the Denver Nuggets.
Beasley rose to his feet after every highlight play and also chirped words of encouragement to the Seminoles, who regained their footing in the comforts of their home court and led by as many as 34 points during the blowout victory.
Unlike Beasley, who has bounced in and out of the NBA Developmental League to hold a bench spot on Denver’s roster, Bacon returned to Florida State to improve his game and NBA draft stock during his sophomore season.
After coming up scoreless during FSU’s loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday, Bacon returned to form, shooting 6 of 15 from the field with four 3-pointers, five rebounds and four assists.
Starting point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes paced FSU’s torrid pace with seven points and 10 assists, including seven in the first half. Standout freshman Jonathan Isaac, who could be potentially be an NBA lottery pick, finished with 14 points. P.J. Savoy added 15 points off the bench.
The Seminoles used 57 bench points and 52 points in the paint to set a new school record for home wins in a season at 17, and have won 20 consecutive games at home dating back to last season.
But the road has been unkind to FSU, which suffered all six of its losses away from home. The Seminoles trailed by at least 15 points in the second half of five conference road losses this season.
The Seminoles have three games remaining in the regular season — Saturday’s game at Clemson, at Duke on Feb. 4 and at home against Miami on March 4. The ACC Tournament is March 7-11 in Brooklyn.
The Seminoles, who dropped two spots in Monday’s Associated Press top 25 rankings, are in a tie for fourth place with Notre Dame in the ACC standings.
FSU is in pursuit of its first NCAA Tournament berth since winning the ACC title in 2012.