National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Florida St. 109, Clemson 61
When: 12:30 PM ET, Sunday, February 5, 2017
Where: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida
Officials: # Pat Driscoll, # Mike Eades, # Raymond Styons
Attendance: 10868

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- No. 15 Florida State must've had Super Bowl plans.

Because the Seminoles ran Clemson out of the gym in a hurry Sunday.

After tipping off about six hours before Super Bowl LI, Florida State guard Dwayne Bacon tied his career high with 29 points and the Seminoles handed Clemson its worst loss this season with a 109-61 rout at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

"This was one of those days where everything just seemed to go your way," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "It's a day where we were hitting on all cylinders. We were connected, offensively and defensively. I'm not sure we're 40 points better than Clemson on most nights, but Sunday was certainly a great day for us."

The Seminoles (20-4, 8-3 ACC) improved to 15-0 at home this season and stretched their winning streak at the Donald L. Tucker Center to 18 games dating to last season. They did it, in part, by hitting 17 3-pointers -- the most against an ACC opponent in school history -- including six by Bacon.

Bacon was asked after the game what it felt like to be in the zone, but he could only smile and shake his head before answering.

"I don't know how I was so open on some of those shots, but they were falling tonight," said Bacon, who is now 43 points away from 1,000 for his career following Sunday's big game. "When I'm in the zone, it's like I block everything else out. There was one play, where I spun and got the and-one, where that wasn't even the play I was supposed to do. I just forgot it and I just created a shot."

The last time Florida State scored 100 or more points in a regulation ACC game was in 1996 against Maryland.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell wasn't pleased that his team became the first program in 21 years to turn in that kind of performance against the Seminoles.

"Apologize to anyone who came to this game and missed out on a good Super Bowl party," Brownell said, half-joking, as he opened his press conference after the game. "We didn't play at all. Really disappointed in my team. We were consistently in transition defense and couldn't catch up. We didn't put up enough resistance at all (to make this game) worthwhile."

Florida State guard Braian Angola-Rodas added 12 points in the win for the Seminoles, who posted their highest-scoring first half in ACC play this year when they went to intermission up 51-25 and never looked back.

Guard Terance Mann was the only other double-figure scorer with 11 points for Florida State, but a staggering eight other players scored between six and nine points in the win. That included nine points from reserve guard Brandon Allen, who came off the bench late and went 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

The Tigers (13-9, 3-7) had won back-to-back ACC games for the first time this season coming into Sunday, beating Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech, but all momentum was stopped in a big way against Florida State.

The Tigers' 48-point loss was their largest margin of defeat this season, surpassing the 32-point beat-down they suffered Jan. 19 at Louisville.

Clemson was led by guard Avry Holmes with 15 points, and the Tigers also got 13 points from guard Marcquise Reed, but it wasn't nearly enough. The Seminoles' 26-point halftime lead stretched to 41 points, at 85-44, with nine minutes to go in the second half on a near-half-court alley-oop from guard C.J. Walker to center Christ Koumadje as the Tigers had no answer for Florida State's speed and depth.

Holmes was visibly disgusted after the game, saying more than once, "Just a bad day at the office, man. Just a bad day at the office."

The lead reached 48 points when they made it 100-52 with three minutes remaining. Clemson called time out and both teams emptied their benches.

The 109 points was Florida State's second-highest point total this season, behind only the 118 points they hung on Nicholls State in their 10th game of the season.

"This feels great," said Angola-Rodas of the team's huge performance at home after losing two of three games during a recent road swing. "The whole team played, guys coming off the bench and making a big contribution. It just feels great."

All four of Florida State's losses this year have come on the road, but at home the Seminoles have been unstoppable, beating teams by an average of 20 points game in Tallahassee.

Sunday's victory also marked the quickest Florida State has reached 20 wins in program history, overtaking the previous record held by the 1969-70 team that reached 20 wins on Feb. 14, 1970.

The monster performance by Bacon, who was pulled with just under five minutes left in the contest after dropping his 29th point on a deep 3-pointer, came in front of an unusually high number of NBA scouts in attendance Sunday. They were there to see Bacon, Clemson forward Jaron Blossomgame and Florida State forward Jonathan Isaac.

Bacon and Blossomgame each played well -- with Blossomgame finishing with 11 points -- while Isaac was held to a season-low two points on 1-of-4 shooting. Isaac did lead the team with five boards in the win.

Tigers center Sidy Djitte finished with a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Clemson only hung with Florida State for about the first four minutes. The Tigers grabbed a 7-6 lead with 16:29 remaining in the first half on a 3-pointer by Holmes, then Clemson watched helplessly as the Seminoles went on a 14-1 run over the next four minutes to quickly seize control.

The Tigers called a timeout and came back on an 8-2 run to close the gap to 22-16, but that was as close as they'd get the rest of the game. The Seminoles finished the final 10 minutes outscoring Clemson 29-9.

The Tigers will try to rebound in their next game out at home against Syracuse on Tuesday, while Florida State will host N.C. State on Wednesday.

And with Sunday's win out of the way, the Seminoles were free to enjoy the Super Bowl and rest a little before getting back to work.

NOTES: Florida State now leads the all-time series against Clemson 39-31, winning two straight in the rivalry. ... Florida State's coaching and support staff wore blue lapel pens in support of Autism Speaks and autism awareness during Sunday's game against Clemson. Florida State also announced this week it had joined the Coaches vs. Cancer program, where the school donates money for every 3-pointer made from Feb. 1 to March 5. ... Tigers head coach Brad Brownell moved to second all-time in Clemson history during the team's last game, a 74-62 win against Georgia Tech, passing Oliver Purnell. Brownell only needs five more wins to become first all-time and pass former Tigers coaching legend Cliff Ellis. ... Florida State combo forward/guard Dwayne Bacon was named a Top 10 finalist this week for the Julius Erving Award, which recognizes the top small forward in college basketball. ... Three members of Clemson's team have already earned their undergraduate degrees -- before the season even began. Roommates and study partners Jaron Blossomgame and Riley McGillan have already earned a marketing degree and sociology degree, respectively, while Avry Holmes has a degree in communications.
Top Game Performances
 
Clemson   Florida St.
Avry Holmes 15 Scoring Dwayne Bacon 29
Shelton Mitchell 3 Assists Xavier Rathan-Mayes 9
Sidy Djitte 11 Rebounds Jonathan Isaac 5
Sidy Djitte 4 Free Throws Made Dwayne Bacon 3
Marcquise Reed 3 Steals Trent Forrest 3
Donte Grantham 1 Blocks Christ Koumadje 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Clemson 61 37.5 8-21 11-19 11 29 3 6 22
Florida St. 109 66.1 17-30 10-12 26 27 5 9 14