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On senior day, FSU (21-9, 12-4) used a hot shooting first half to take a 16 point lead into halftime. But defensive lapses and lazy turnovers kept Clemson in the game down the stretch. Michael Snaer went to the line for a 1-and-1 with FSU up 3 and 0:27 left on the clock. If he missed the front end, Clemson could tie. Instead, he sank both, and capped off a career best 23 point performance. Snaer made 5-7 3s, and in the process became the 42nd Seminole to score 1,000 points in his career.
FSU was able to force Clemson to play far more uptempo than they are used to. Doing so, the Noles stayed in rhythm, and they consistently used high ball screens to dribble penetrate against the Clemson defense. The Seminoles scored 1.11 points per possession, which is the 2nd most allowed by Clemson in conference play. This despite FSU turning the ball over on 25% of their possessions.
Even with numerous defensive lapses in the 2nd half, the Seminole D still allowed only 72 points in 72 possessions. Not a good performance, but not horrible either. FSU won 12 conference games for only the 2nd time in 20 ACC seasons.
Michael Snaer led all scorers with 23, and four other Noles were in double-digits. Bernard James had a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. Xavier Gibson added 13 and 8 (and was the beneficiary of this excellent Luke Loucks alley oop). Ian Miller scored 11 and Luke Loucks added 10 points and 4 assists.
The Noles now wait until Friday to play again, and will get the winner of the 6/11 game in Thursday's ACC Tournament.