Clemson has played its way right out of the top 25. Three games removed from a win over NC State and a four game winning streak that pushed them to #12 in the country, the Tigers suffered their third straight lopsided loss Saturday at Florida State 80-61.
The Tigers made just four first half field goals and trailed by has much as 38 points in the second half. A 13-2 run over the final over the final 3:21 let the Tigers put some lipstick on what was a pig of a performance.
Clemson’s shooting numbers from the floor were horrid. The Tigers made just 4-24 shots in the first half, and finished 17-56 on field goal attempts (30.4%). They were 5-30 (16.7%) from three. Their only saving grace from a shooting standpoint was a 16-22 effort from the line.
Florida State didn’t light it up offensively shooting 48% with a dozen three pointers. But the Seminoles did score 30 points in the paint and got 39 points from the guys off the bench.
Two substantial runs by Florida State did in the Tigers. Clemson was down just 9-7 roughly five minutes into the game, but was outscored 13-0 over the next five minutes to trail 22-7. The Seminoles led 42-24 at the break and outscored the Tigers 14-2 over the first four minutes of the second half, and the route was on.
Johnny Newman was the only Clemson player in double figures with 12 points. Leading scorer Aamir Simms was held to just 5 points. Balsa Koprivica had a double-double for Florida State with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Clemson’s average margin of defeat in this three game losing streak is 24 points. The Tigers are now 9-4 overall and 3-4 in the ACC. They will host Boston College Wednesday night at 9:00 PM.
Brad Brownell postgame
Final Game Stats
