The Seminoles continued their red-hot late season charge. This time taking down one more "bubble" team.
Florida State basketball stretched their season into Thursday, knocking off Cal 95-89 Wednesday to open the Seminoles' Atlantic Coast Conference title push.
The Noles took a rest day to open the ACC Tournament on Tuesday. But now they've taken down one more "bubble" team in the name of boosting their slim March Madness hopes.
The Golden Bears were believed to be a contender for "first four in" status with their 21-10 record. FSU, though, previously defeated Cal on Jan. 28 -- which ignited the Seminoles' winning roll into the conference tourney inside the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
Now FSU is carrying the momentum against top-ranked Duke by eliminating Cal.
Alex Steen started the scoring early by getting a tip-in inside the hoop. Thomas Bassong then missed a slam dunk on the subsequent offensive possession.
Florida State later found itself down 9-2 early before Robert McCray V started to ignite on the scoring end. McCray nailed his first basket off a 28-foot three-pointer that cut the lead to 9-5. McCray followed with a 14-foot pulling jump shot to slice the lead again to four as Cal led 11-7 after that basket.
Kobe MaGee and McCray then sliced the lead to 13-12, with the former nailing his 24-foot jumper. MaGee then handed FSU its first lead by swishing a 23-footer.
The Noles exploded from there by going on a 16-2 run that handed FSU the 28-15 lead. Florida State eventually built the lead to 46-32 at halftime.
Cal attempted one more rally by outscoring FSU 57-49 in the final period. But the Seminoles managed to hang on to advance into the next round of the ACC Tournament.
And once again awaiting them? No. 1 Duke, which happens to be without two starters ahead of the Thursday evening contest. But the Blue Devils will have potential top overall pick for the NBA Draft Cameron Boozer in the lineup. Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba are the ones missing from Duke, as both will sit out the entire tourney.
McCray ended his night dropping 30 on the Bears. Lajae Jones scored 15, while Chauncey Wiggins (14) and MaGee (13) rounded out the double-digit scorers for FSU. The four-game winning streak is now the longest for FSU under head coach Luke Loucks.
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