The Florida State Seminoles basketball team escaped Pittsburgh with a 75-74 heart-stopper on Wednesday night at Petersen Events Center, surviving a furious Pitt second-half comeback to pick up a massive road win. FSU led wire-to-wire, never trailing for a single second, but the Panthers made them earn every last point of it.
For about 30 minutes of game time, this looked like a comfortable Seminole victory. Then FSU fans watched that lead slowly erode and almost slip away. Thankfully, the Noles were able to cling to a one-point lead as the buzzer sounded. It was a tale of two halves, but in the end, the Noles came out on top and claimed their fifth straight ACC road win (first time since 1992), and that’s all that matters.
The First Half: FSU in Control
Florida State came out with energy and purpose. LaJae Jones knocked down a three on the game’s second possession, AJ Swinton rattled the rim with a pair of dunks off the bench, and the Noles were cooking. By the time Chauncey Wiggins drained back-to-back threes late in the half.
FSU had pushed the lead all the way to 24 at the 18:06 mark of the second half, the largest advantage of the night. The Noles shot a sizzling 61% in the opening half and held Pitt to just 32% from the floor. FSU headed to the break, up 46-30. It looked like a blowout. It was anything but.
The Second Half: Hold On for Dear Life
Pitt’s Barry Dunning Jr. refused to go quietly. The guard finished with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including five triples, and willed his team back into the game one bucket at a time. FSU’s second-half shooting cratered, just 37% from the field and 23% from three, and suddenly that 24-point cushion was evaporating in real time.
The Panthers rattled off runs, cut the deficit to single digits, and with 11 seconds left had sliced it all the way to 73-68. Nojus Indrusaitis, a thorn in FSU’s side all night with 17 points off the bench, hit a three to make it 73-71 with 11 seconds remaining. Then Damarco Minor buried a ridiculous three with one second on the clock to pull Pitt within one, 75-74. The final buzzer couldn’t come fast enough. Thankfully, the Noles held on when it arrived.
The Heroes
Wiggins was sensational, pouring in 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting with four threes, including a go-ahead dunk off a Cam Miles assist with 33 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner. Jones matched him with 18 points and some clutch buckets down the stretch, while Robert McCray V (14 points, 6 assists, 2 steals) did a little bit of everything and hit the two huge free throws with five seconds left that ultimately sealed it.
Thomas Bassong was quietly excellent with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and a defensive presence that disrupted Pitt’s rhythm throughout the night.
The Concern
Make no mistake, the second half was ugly. FSU scored just 29 points after the break, turned it over 11 times for the game, and let a team that was shooting 8% from three in the first half go nuclear in the second. Pitt outscored the Noles 44-29 over the final 20 minutes and owned the glass on the offensive end down the stretch. Those 15 points off turnovers Pitt generated in the second half (FSU had zero) tell a very real story about how close this one came to slipping away. The good news? The Noles found a way.
Looking Ahead
FSU improves with a critical road win that could carry real weight when conference standings and potential postseason implications are sorted out. The Noles needed this one and will look to build on it as they prepare for a rematch with SMU in Tallahassee on Saturday in their final game of the regular season. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!