Florida State basketball closed the regular season against the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Mustangs on Mar. 7 at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, toppling the Mustangs in dominant fashion, 91-78.
Chauncey Wiggins leads FSU with career-high 31 points
Senior forward Chauncey Wiggins led the way for the Seminoles, scoring a career-high 31 points, eclipsing his previous career-high of 23 points against Stanford on Jan. 31. Senior guard Robert McCray V notched a double double with 17 points and 12 assists, his third of the season and his first in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. Four FSU players finished in double figures.
“They deserved to win this game, they shot the lights out,” SMU head coach Andy Enfield said in the postgame conference. “They were outstanding moving the ball. Wiggins caught fire. [McCray] was spectacular; his passing to get guys involved.”
FSU seniors shine in emotional final home game at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center
The final home game of the season honored senior forward Shah Muhammad, senior forward Alex Steen, senior guard Lajae Jones, senior guard Kobe Magee, McCray V, and Wiggins before tipoff. 82 of the ‘Noles 91 points came from those six seniors.
“They played with the energy and the passion, and the urgency, the competitive spirit that I want to continue to build this program with,” head coach Luke Loucks said after the game. “I would sign up to coach these six [again] any day of the week from this season until whenever I retire.”
The Garnet and Gold opened the game strong, scoring eight of the first 10 points to take an 8-2 lead early. SMU tied the game at 18 with 7:52 remaining in the first half before Florida State responded with an 11-0 run. Wiggins and McCray sparked the surge with back-to-back threes, leading Seminoles to a 26-18 lead.
FSU continued to click on all cylinders with another 9-0 run, once again fueled by Wiggins and McCray. Jones punctuated the stretch with a coast-to-coast steal and layup plus the foul, extending the lead to 38-21 with 2:10 remaining in the half.
The Mustangs briefly halted the ’Noles with a four-point play from senior forward Corey Washington, but Steen quickly answered. He scored the Garnet and Gold’s final four points of the half with a slam dunk and a fadeaway jumper, sending Florida State to the locker room with a 45-27 advantage.
Through 20 minutes, the Seminoles shot an effective 50% from the field, while holding the Mustangs to 33.3%.
Wiggins picked up right where he left off to start the second half, scoring FSU’s first six points with a contested corner three and a tough driving layup through multiple SMU defenders for an and-one.
As the ’Noles appeared ready to pull away, SMU senior guard Boopie Miller sparked a comeback attempt. Miller scored 14 consecutive points for the Mustangs, trimming the deficit to 66-55 with 12:02 remaining.
“He is one of the toughest young men I have coached,” Enfield said to the FSView in the postgame press conference. “In the second half, he tried to will his team back. We cut it to 11 and he was spectacular.”
Miller finished with 32 points, including 28 in the second half while connecting on seven 3-pointers.
Despite the surge, the Garnet and Gold remained in control. Florida State slammed the door on any possible comeback when Magee drilled a corner three to extend the lead to 91-74 with 1:20 remaining.
As the final buzzer sounded, the Seminoles shot 51.7% from the field and 47.1% from 3-point range while knocking down 16 triples. It marked the first time FSU has splashed 16 threes in an ACC game since facing Maryland in 2014.
“They felt like they could make every three that they threw up, and almost all of them went in,” Enfield said. “A lot of those were contested threes; it became contagious for them. I think they thought every shot they shot was going in.”
FSU finishes the season 17-14 after midseason turnaround, No. 8 seed in ACC Tournament
This win gives the ’Noles their 10th ACC win of the season after starting 0-5 in conference play. The Garnet and Gold finish the regular season with a 17-14 record, winning 10 of their last 13 ACC games heading into the ACC Tournament.
Loucks said he recently reminded his team about the opportunity the postseason presents.
“You just gotta show up game one against whoever we play and play your tail off for 40 minutes,” Loucks said postgame. “I truly believe we can win an ACC title if we continue playing how we are playing now.”
FSU enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 8 seed and will face No. 9-seeded University of California, Berkeley in the opening round on Mar. 11 at 7 p.m.
Hunter Milligan is a Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
This article originally appeared on FSU News: FSU basketball closes regular season with 91-78 win over SMU
Reporting by Hunter Milligan, Staff Writer, FSView / FSU News
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