Three and a half weeks ago, the Clemson Tigers made headlines by defeating a Florida state team at home. On Saturday, the Seminoles returned the favor and a few more, beating the staggering Tigers in an 80-61 beating that didn’t even come close to the final result. The victory, the FSU’s 21st straight against ACC opponents in Tuck, takes the ‘Noles to 9-2 this season and 5-1 in the conference.
The Seminoles came back on top in their first possession and quickly fell behind 2-0. However, the defense increased several points soon after and Clemson simply failed to keep up.
Speaking of failure in execution, this game has become an example, broadcast on national television, of why the college’s repayment situation should be addressed. Whether it’s more training, full-time jobs or firing, they just need to do a better job. There is no other way around this. Score fouls that affect the game. The NBA is fantastic about this, so we know it can be done. When a guy has his arm cut during the shot or his legs cut under him in the air, mark the foul. When there is a long 50/50 rebound and two guys collide trying to catch it, let the game continue.
The last of these examples resulted in a quick whistle on Saturday, resulting in Clemson being punished for having a missed transition opportunity and the home team being punished with RaiQuan Gray receiving his second foul three minutes into the game. Both teams suffered because the stripes were not good at their job.
With Gray on the bench and Anthony Polite losing his second game in a row due to a shoulder injury, the Seminoles were to be expected to struggle. Quite the opposite. A three-point sandwich from MJ Walker and Scottie Barnes made it 15-7 after 6 minutes of play.
Malik Osborne pushed the lead to double digits with a good leap in recovery. He then brought the roaring crowd to their feet with a return over the edge to the sender in an attempt to bury by Hunter Tyson. A corner by Sardaar Calhoun three made it 22-7, crowning an 18-3 run for the Seminoles.
The next few minutes showed an agitated game at both ends, largely created by inconsistent kicks and referees who seemed to waver between believing that basketball is a zero-contact sport and hockey. At the 5:30 mark, the FSU’s lead remained at 15 points, 31-16.
A couple of free throws from Clemson reduced his deficit to 13, but Rayquan Evans came flying for an offensive rebound and lay-up all in one move to push him back to 15. Two more Tiger gifts cut to 13, but another rebound offensive rebound, this time from Balsa Koprivica, made the 35-20 in the sub-4 timeout.
FSU forced an air ball out of time, then promptly extended his margin to 18 in Calhoun’s second hand with three balls in the corner of the game. More free throws for Clemson led the Tigers to less than 16, but three more – this one with damage – from Calhoun increased the advantage to 20 points.
It looked like it would be the margin of the break, but the referee team decided to whistle FSU for its 12th foul in a run for a 50/50 rebound when the buzzer sounded. The Tigers made their 13th and 14th pitches in the charity belt, the three quarters of Barnes ‘court pulled out, and the’ Noles had a 42-24 lead in the locker room.
In addition to free throws, where the Tigers overcame the Seminoles by 16-3 in the first stanza, the State of Florida dominated the first 20 minutes in virtually every aspect. In fact, Calhoun scored as many points in the first half (10) as all the Clemson players combined scored on the field. Despite delivering 18.7% of his possessions in the first half – almost all of them were played with a dead ball – FSU scored 1.27 points for possession, a 7-17 kick in the background (including Barnes’ long shot), grabbed 44% of his mistakes and kept Clemson with 16.7% of field shots. Remember that all of this happened when the FSU played without Gray and Anthony Polite (injured) for most of the time.
The second half started as the first ended – three fouls scored in the first 55 seconds. Gray clearly didn’t mind being forced to sit for 17 minutes and the big guy came out excited. His basic tomahawk jam made 48-24 and forced Brad Brownell to take a break ahead of time.
The timeout did not have the intended effect. Brownell’s team continued to shoot worse than a city swindler at a ranch, the state of Florida continued to tear nets from the edge of the depths and the referees continued to blow their whistles. Calhoun, Gray, Koprivica, Walker, Tanor Ngom and Nate Jack contributed to a 15-2 run. In the time limit for children under 12, the score showed 66-31, good people.
From then on the game was a friendly one. Points were scored, fouls were scored and the turns were many – both forced and not forced. The lead grew to 38 before Hamilton mercifully canceled the dogs. The biggest drawback for FSU fans was Walker looking quite dizzy when he was helped off the court after an inadvertent blow to the head during a boxing match. It will certainly be worthwhile to monitor your status, especially if Polite continues to wear street clothes.
Calhoun and Koprivica led an attack with a balanced score, with the two contributing 13 points. Koprivica added 10 rebounds (3 offensive) and 2 blocks for his first double-double as a Seminole. Calhoun came in just 17 minutes, with the JUCO transfer showing his deadly bottom blow, going 4-5 out of three. Gray and Walker also reached double figures for the State of Florida, with the former scoring 11 points in 4-5 shots in just 11 minutes of action.
For the game, FSU hit 12-28 from the bottom and grabbed almost 40% of his mistakes. Defensively, Clemson was unable to do anything but make free throws (22-26) and 21 of his 61 points occurred in the final 5:54, after the Seminoles empty his bank.
FSU now turns its attention to a rival in the state, with Miami hurricanes visiting Tallahassee on Wednesday.