Maybe it was the team’s purple jerseys?
Whatever it was that helped turn the recent fortunes of the Tigers around, Clemson picked up a much-needed 78-67 victory over Florida State in ACC play Saturday at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee.
Clemson’s bench had 28 points, and four players finished in double digits. Chase Hunter led the way with 14 points, including a dunk with 34 seconds to play for the game’s final points.
The win was the Tigers’ (13-5 overall, 3-4 conference) third straight over Florida State (11-7 overall, 5-2 conference) dating back to last year.
It was also the team’s biggest victory of the season after a dreadful start to the new year saw the Tigers drop four of their first five games in 2024, including an embarrassing home loss earlier in the week to Georgia Tech.
Clemson rallied from an eight-point deficit midway through the first half against FSU to even the score at 30-30 by intermission.
Coach Brad Brownell said that he challenged his team at halftime to finish strong after second-half letdowns had defined the Tigers’ last four losses.
“I just told them we’d been here before,” Brownell said. “The hardest part for us is… can you stay connected and competitive enough to have enough fight to hold them off? Because they’re going to come running and climb on your backs.”
Clemson more than withstood the challenge, outscoring Florida State 48-37 in the second half.
Chauncey Wiggins sank a 3-pointer, and PJ Hall had a layup as Clemson found itself on a 7-0 run to start the half for a 37-30 lead.
The lead would grow to as many as 13 after Josh Beadle, another reserve having an impactful game, made a running layup and took a foul from Baba Miller to push the Tigers’ lead to 65-52 with 3:24 left.
When Florida State began fouling with under 90 seconds to play, Clemson sank its next six foul shots to close things out. The Tigers hit their last nine free throws overall.
“We missed a couple of free throws in those losses,” Brownell noted. “We just haven’t done the things you have to do to finish off games. Today, knock on wood, we did.”
Clemson shot 51 percent for the game and was 7-for-17 from beyond the arc. FSU never got into a rhythm against the Tigers’ zone defense and ended up shooting only 40.7 percent from the floor, including just 4-of-18 from 3-point range.
Jamir Watkins led Florida State with 15 points. Two other Seminoles players, Primo Spears (12 points) and Darin Green Jr. (13 points) finished in double figures as well.
Entering the day Saturday, Florida State had won all five of its ACC contests since January began.
UP NEXT: Clemson has a break in midweek action before resuming play next Saturday at No. 7 Duke. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST from Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN.