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RECAP: FSU Basketball Loses Winning Streak, Falls to Clemson at Home

Originally posted on FanNation NoleGameDay
By Austin Veazey | Last updated 1/20/24

The winning streak had to come to an end at some point.

The first half started strong, as Florida State had a great opening 10 minutes. Jalen Warley was getting to the basket often, they were making shots, and were forcing Clemson to foul. Clemson's top three forwards all had two fouls with five minutes left in the half which forced them to go zone, and FSU couldn't make shots against it.

It wasn't that the 'Noles couldn't get good looks, they were getting the open looks, they just weren't hitting. That point was emphasized when Baba Miller delivered a great bounce pass to Jaylan Gainey, who missed the wide open dunk. What could have been a lead of 5 or 7 points ended up tied at 30 heading into halftime.

Despite Clemson's big staying in foul trouble throughout the second half, their guards kept getting to the free throw line, allowing them to build on a lead while keeping the pace slow, something they prefer. Meanwhile, Florida State couldn't hit shots for the life of them. They were getting good looks in the first half and not hitting them, but they couldn't even get the good looks for most of the second half. By the Under-8 media timeout, they were shooting just 38.5% from the floor for the second half.

By the time FSU was getting some points, they weren't getting stops. Clemson opened the lead to as much as 13 with a little under 6 minutes remaining. The Tigers were doing a great job of getting switches onto guards while keeping FSU's offense out of the paint. It was enough for Clemson to go on to win 78-67, a tough loss at home against a team that is better than their conference record suggests.

It was a rough showing in general for the offense. Too many unforced turnovers in a game with not as many possessions (11), too many missed free throws (19/26 from the stripe), got dominated on the glass (39-22 difference overall), and nowhere near good enough from 3 (4/18) to counter their misfortunes everywhere else. Basketball already is a hard game to win, it's even harder when you're not making shots. Their zone offense faltered by not getting the ball to the high post whatsoever. It's a key to FSU's zone offense and when they can't get to the high post.

Jamir Watkins led all scorers with 15 points, but he got going a little too late, in my opinion. He's a guy I'd like to see be one of those high post initiators as someone who can bully his way to the rim as FSU sees more zone coverage down the stretch.

Primo Spears finished with 12 points and Darin Green Jr had 13, but they were a combined 8/23 from the floor, not good enough to get it done.

Jalen Warley started the game strong with 7 early points but had just 2 in the second half. He's been playing better, but he could still stand to see some more improvement.

Clemson was able to weather all of their bigs being in foul trouble. Florida State should be able to win games where PJ Hall has just 13 points and 6 rebounds, but the Tigers saw a career high 12 points from Josh Beadle, as well as 14 points from Chase Hunter (who was 8/8 from the free throw line) and another 10 points from Joseph Girard III, who led everyone with 7 rebounds.

Up next is a road trip to upper New York, as the Seminoles will play at Syracuse Tuesday night in what could be a must-win game.

This article first appeared on FanNation NoleGameDay and was syndicated with permission.

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