Sophomore Chandler Jackson posted a career-high 14 points to lead four double-figure scorers as Florida State held on for an 82-71 victory over Georgia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup Wednesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
Darin Green Jr. hit a 3-pointer with under two minutes left to give the Seminoles (7-6, 1-1 ACC) a 73-61 lead and the margin they needed to take the sting out of the Yellow Jackets (8-5, 1-1 ACC), who got within seven points in the final minute.
Jamir Watkins scored 11 points and Green and Primo Spears had 10 points each for the Seminoles.
Georgia Tech's Miles Kelly led all scorers with 20 points and Kowacie Reeves added 18 and Baye Ndongo had 10 points for the Yellow Jackets.
Florida State increased a 13-point halftime lead to 17 points less than three minutes into the second half and maintained a double-digit margin until Georgia Tech went on an 8-0 run to get within 51-43 approaching the midpoint of the second half.
The Seminoles got their advantage back into double digits and that held up until Reeves hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Yellow Jackets within 66-57 with 4:19 remaining.
They had an opportunity to trim their deficit to seven points but Tafara Gapare missed two free throws and Spears followed with a jumper to get the Seminoles back in front by 11 points with 3:29 remaining.
The Seminoles struggled from the floor in the first half, shooting only 40.6 percent, but that was good enough for a 32-19 lead as the Yellow Jackets managed to go only 8-of-30 from the floor (26.7 percent).
The Jackets woke up in the second half, shooting 17-of-29 (58.6 percent) to finish the game shooting 42.4 percent from the floor. FSU shot 51.7 for the game after going 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) in the second half.
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