Florida State (16-14, 9-8) dominated the Pittsburgh Panthers (11-19, 4-13) in the first 23 minutes of the game, leading by 24 points and seemingly able to execute any offense they wanted. But the shots stopped falling, and the Seminoles withstood a fierce Pitt comeback on the Panthers’ senior night. Ultimately, FSU found a way to produce enough on both ends of the floor to win 75-74. The win ensured FSU would maintain at least a .500 record in ACC play in Coach Loucks’ first season, quite an accomplishment after starting conference play 0-5.
first half
The game started with the Hurricanes making enough free throws in the final seconds to hold off a late drive from Southern Methodist University – oh wait, that’s another game we’re forced to watch because TV executives still can’t fathom that college basketball takes more than two hours. When the broadcast finally switched to FSU, the Seminoles led 13-8 in the under-16 game. The stats tell me that 6 of those 13 points came via Thomas Bassong’s layup and two AJ Swinton dunks at the basket.
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Chauncey Wiggins kept the momentum going with five straight points, then Basson and Swinton continued to impress. Swinton hit a three-pointer before Basson blocked it at the other end, then ran, got a great forward pass from Martin Somerville, and finished with authority. That dunk gave FSU a 12-point lead, 20-8.
Pete didn’t give up, though. The Panthers cut the deficit in half with a 6-0 run that included a dunk by former “Noel” Cam Cohen. Anything you can do I can do better, said Raja Jones, who ended the game with a dirty hands slam after a straight drive down Main Street to push the lead back to 22-14. Pitt cut the lead to five on an offensive rebound, and Florida State’s Swinton went down with a leg injury. It looks like this could be a turning point for Pittsburgh. Robert McCray V and the Seminoles, however, did not do that.
A 5-0 fast break pushed the lead back to double digits. The two teams played ball for a few minutes before McRae V assisted Basson on a beautiful layup and then hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to extend the lead to 12 points, 34-22. After an attack, Somerville hit a three-pointer and the Seminoles suddenly led by 15 points. The lead grew to 18 points after McRae V’s driving layup with 28 seconds left, but Pitt went on a 5-0 run, aided by some of Somerville’s skill-boosting teammates. The basketball gods made up for the T’s weakness when Cam Miles drained a 40-footer as the first-half horn blew.
In the first half, FSU scored 1.39 points per possession and went 8-14, leading for more than 19 minutes. Pitt fell to just 16 points thanks to nine free throws and a ton of offensive rebounds.
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second half
Coming out of the locker room, Florida State played exactly what you wanted to see: They rocked. The Seminoles used suffocating defense and efficient offense to launch an 8-0 burst, leading 54-30 in less than two minutes of the half. At this point in the game, FSU was 10-16 from three-point range, while the Panthers were just 1-12. But Laux’s team couldn’t take out Pete when they were in trouble. The Panthers cut the under-16 deficit to 19 points, with Barry Dunning scoring seven of Pitt’s nine quick points. Sensing the momentum, Pittsburgh returned to its formula for success in the first half, using offensive rebounds and turnovers to create easy inside chances. Florida State’s lead was cut to nine points, 60-51, when Dunning hit a corner 3 with 11 minutes left.
Jones ended Pitt’s 16-2 run with a three-pointer in traditional fashion. But Dunning, a career 31% three-point shooter, hit his third three-pointer of the half to bring the score back to single digits. The score hovered between 9-11 points for about four minutes of play, although FSU missed several opportunities to extend the lead to 13 or 14 points due to missed shots at the rim. Dunning then continued his dream senior night by hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the half and fifth of the game to cut the deficit to six points, 67-61. Cam Cohen then hit two free throws and Florida State looked completely exhausted. All the missed shots, all the crisp passes, all the damage done to the defense, disappeared into the Oakland Zoo.
At the time of the Under-4 media timeout, FSU had gone 5 minutes and 37 seconds without a field goal, a dunk, an open 3-pointer and everything in between. On the other end, a familiar scene unfolded, as FSU’s defense seemed unable to stop any player’s offense, as Dunning scored 18 points on 9-of-7 shooting in 17 second-half minutes.
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From 5 minutes and 07 seconds to 50.6 seconds into the game, the score was locked at 68-63, and the originally smooth game came to an abrupt end. Finally, Jones hit a corner 3-pointer to give FSU a comfortable eight-point lead. But the comfort didn’t last long as Pitt ran up the court and countered with a three-pointer to make it 71-66 with 44 seconds left. For a moment, it looked like Pitt had Florida State in corner trap trouble, but Somerville was strong with the ball and found Myers on the baseline, who passed the ball to Wiggins, who was waiting for a dunk under the rim.
Unfortunately, the next throw-in didn’t go as smoothly. After Pitt hit two free throws to cut the lead to five, Cam Miles turned the ball over and gave the ball back to the Panthers, who took advantage with a 3-pointer. FSU led 73-71 with 9.7 seconds left in the game. Enter McCray V. The senior made two free throws to give FSU a 75-71 lead with 5.9 seconds left. Pitt made a desperation three-pointer with 1 second left, but that only mattered to punters.
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President of the Court – Robert McCray V. Of course, his playing record was only 4-16. But the senior played a big role in the game, hitting two free throws at the end. His 6 rebounds and 6 assists were also outstanding.
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For whatever reason, FSU has been much better on the road this season than at home. The success of the road trip was largely due to the success of the shoot. Coming into this game, the Noles shot 36.3% from long range in ACC road games and 27.8% in league home games (worst in the league). To make matters worse, in Tallahassee’s game against FSU, the opponent shot 38.6% from three-point range. The win moves FSU to 6-3 on the road this year, the most road wins in the ACC since the Seminoles went 6-3 in 2019-2020.
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From a metrics perspective, this is a missed opportunity. Achieve 20-30 point road wins when you’re basically a draft player and that will rocket you up the KenPom, Torvik and NET rankings. But let’s be honest, those metrics aren’t that important to this year’s team anymore. It’s important to lay the foundation for what kind of culture will be built and expected in the Luke Laux era, and wins like this are great for doing that. The Seminoles made little progress in the final 15 minutes of the game, but their players fought hard and fought hard to get the win. Learning how to win is a skill, just like dribbling and shooting, and making plays like this is part of the development of young men like Somerville, Basson and Miles.
Next
The Seminoles return home for their Senior Day game against the SMU Broncos. One of two ACC rivals, the Noles, have played two games this season, with FSU losing 83-80 in a hard-fought contest in Dallas on Jan. 24. Florida State is coming off an amazing Senior Day record under Coach Hamm, with a career record of 19-4 and winning 10 of its last 11 games. Luke Loucks will follow in his mentor’s footsteps after winning his Senior Day game with an 80-72 victory over Clemson.
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Game tips will take place on Saturday, March 7th at 2:00 pm.
