The Seminoles nearly completed the comeback, and came close to earning their second ACC win.
Florida State erased a double-digit deficit against SMU, but still took the 83-80 defeat on Saturday against a Mustangs team that was a 12.5-point favorite.
SMU looked like it was going to cover the spread early -- leading 46-34 at halftime. The Mustang defense forced FSU to shoot at 30% from the field, plus a paltry 17% behind the arc.
Robert McCray V, however, sparked the rally by throwing down a slam dunk at the 19:19 mark. Alex Steen provided the assist there.
Thomas Bassong later followed by finding a hole in the SMU defense and finishing with a layup. McCray later arrived to throw down one more dunk.
McCray later nailed a 27-foot three-pointer at the 17:22 mark of the second half that sliced the lead to 49-43 in favor of SMU. Steen and Lajae Jones cut the deficit to two -- the latter nailing a 10-foot turnaround jumper.
But then Jones really got the FSU bench jumping -- sinking a 24-foot three-pointer to hand the Seminoles the lead at 50-49 through their 10-0 run.
Jermaine O'Neal Jr., however, broke the run up by hitting a 22-foot three that made it 52-50 for SMU. Jaden Toombs and Samet Yigitoglu extended the lead to 56-50.
Cam Miles and Steen responded on behalf of FSU by cutting the lead to 56-55 with 11:29 to go. McCray V later hit a 14-foot jump shot with 10:42 left that re-handed the 'Noles the lead at 57-56.
Florida State never led again until 3:29 was left on the clock -- with Jones stepping back and nailing a 24-footer from long range. FSU never took the lead from there as SMU responded with a 7-0 run to take the 76-72 lead. The 'Noles managed to outscore SMU 46-37.
McCray led the way in dropping 21 points while Jones joined him in getting 20 (Jones also led the way with 12 rebounds). Steen hit double figures too in delivering 14. Martin Sommerville scored 13 points. Chauncey Wiggins added five.
FSU remains with one conference win this season and are 1-6 during ACC play. The 'Noles have endured narrow losses too -- one to Wake Forest and another against Syracuse.
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