Clemson got 24 points from Joe Girard and withstood a late rally by Florida State for a 74-63 victory in ACC play Saturday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Girard made four 3-pointers as the Tigers (19-8 overall, 9-7 conference) built a 16-point lead in the second half following a layup from Dillon Hunter with 13:20 to play.
With PJ Hall on the bench with three fouls for much of the second half, Florida State (14-13, 8-8) was able to whittle the lead down to five after Baba Miller sank a 3-pointer with 6:05 left.
When Hall returned to the game, he drove to the basket, got off a tough shot against Seminoles forward Jaylan Gainey, and drew a foul for a three-point play to re-up the Clemson lead to 63-55 with 4:31 to play.
The Tigers held on from there despite a Seminoles team that refused to go away — and got a little testy on the court in the final minute of play.
A dust-up between Jamir Watkins and PJ Hall ended in a double technical foul assessed to both players. That led to Hall fouling out for Clemson and Girard sinking two foul shots on the opposite end to add to his game-high points total.
Watkins had 18 points for Florida State and Primo Spears added 16.
The win was a big step forward for a Clemson team that’s still hoping to receive a double-bye in next month’s ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C. The Tigers are now 5-1 in their last six games after dropping six of their first nine contests to start the year.
Chase Hunter had 16 points and RJ Godfrey scored 12 off the bench in Saturday’s performance.
Hunter closed the first half with a bang when he drained a step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave Clemson a 38-28 lead at intermission — its largest of the half.
The Tigers return to the court Tuesday when they host Pitt (18-9, 9-7) at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. The game will be televised by ACC Network.