Florida State defeats Notre Dame thanks to red-hot start and chess match finish

Florida State (10-12, 3-6 ACC) comes into this game on a two-game win streak after a nearly-entirely miserable stretch in January, with five straight ACC losses. Notre Dame (11-12, 2-8 ACC) welcomes the Seminoles to South Bend after losing eight of their last nine games.

With just 10 games to go, the Seminoles are fighting to keep their heads above the figurative .500 water. And they did. The Seminoles hung on to win, 82-79.

First Half

The Seminoles got out to a quick 15-2 lead on the backs of Robert Mccray and Chauncey Wiggins with two three-pointers each. By the second media timeout, Florida State had extended its lead to 27-9 on near back-to-back blocks by AJ Swinton and Mccray. They were also shooting 53.8% on threes at this mark, with Wiggins leading the team with 11 points. He was outscoring the entirety of Notre Dame’s team. Florida State also got into foul trouble early, with eight of them before the eight-minute mark.

At the final media timeout of the half, the Noles had a 12-point lead after going just 2/10 on their last field goal attempts. The lead dwindled to 7 after a scoring drought of 2+ minutes, but it was broken by a dunk by AJ Swinton to make it 36-27. Notre Dame was on a 13-2 run, though, so the lead shrank to just 6 with 40 seconds left. Notre Dame would hit a layup as time expired to end the half, 41-32. Chauncey Wiggins had 13 points in this half, and AJ Swinton had 8.

Second Half

The Seminoles and Irish started out by trading points in the early second half, with neither team able to get many back-to-back points. At the first media timeout, Florida State’s lead stayed in the single digits, 52-44. A three-pointer at the buzzer cut the lead to just 5, and the Seminoles would try a three right after, but missed it. Notre Dame went on an 8-0 run, and the Seminoles hadn’t scored in three and a half minutes, just past 13:30 left on the clock. When Florida State finally hit another shot, they were just 1 of their last 7.

It was now a game.

Florida State and Notre Dame entered a lull after multiple missed shots. However, after the final media timeout, the Seminoles would allow the Irish to score two jumpers to tie the game at 72 with 2:33 left. Notre Dame’s Jalen Harrison would foul out of the game, and the Seminoles would retake the lead after two free throws by Mccray. The Seminoles would be just 2 of their last 10 as the clock crossed with two minutes remaining, and the Irish would take their first lead of the day after a three-pointer by Logan Imes.

18-point first half defecit, completely vaporized.

Florida State quickly retook the lead thanks to a Chauncey Wiggins three-pointer. This put him at 22 points in this game, and with just a minute to go, the Seminoles’ lead stood at two with a 77-75 score. A missed free throw and a foul on Thomas Bassong put Notre Dame in position to once again tie the game. Bassong has now also fouled out in addition to Mccray. Lajae Jones hit two free throws in a row to push it back to a four-point game with 35.8 to play. A quick jumper by Notre Dame’s Brady Koehler, thanks to goaltending by Florida State, once again shrunk the lead back to 2 points.

Chauncey Wiggins, with the opportunity to have a career high in points, missed two free throws in a row. With 20 seconds to go, Notre Dame would also miss back-to-back free throws. Sir Mohammad fouled Martin Sommerville on what he thought was a clean steal, which put Florida State back to the free-throw line once again. They made one, to put the lead up to three, 80-77. Alex Steen fouled Braeden Shrewsberry, and he became the third Seminole to foul out. Two free throws by Shrewsberry made it a one-point game with just nine seconds to go. Yet another foul, this time on Carson Towt of Notre Dame, gives Florida State another (another) chance to take the lead, with Alier Maluk hitting both to put it back to a three-point game.

A missed three-pointer by Notre Dame by Cole Certa and another missed three-pointer by Braeden Shrewsberry right at the buzzer cemented the Florida State victory.

I’m exhausted even writing this one.

Player of the Game

Chauncey Wiggins had an absolute legacy game with [points] points, [reb] rebounds, and [ast] assists in [min] minutes. Dude was electric, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him. It was also his birthday, so I hope he has a damn good rest of it!

What’s Next?

The Seminoles win and move to 11-12 to begin February. The Seminoles are hosting No. 18 Virginia on Feb. 10, and you can catch that game at 7:00 PM ET from Tallahassee. The game will be aired on ESPNU.