Jamir Watkins reacts to win over Virginia Tech, scoring career-high in ACC Tournament

Florida State forward Jamir Watkins had a stellar performance in the Seminoles’ first game of the ACC Tournament to help lead the team to a 86-76 win over Virginia Tech in the second round. Scoring a career-high 34 points to keep Florida State’s season alive and advance them to the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Watkins filled up the stat sheet, adding 11 rebounds and four steals to his impressive stat line. After the game, he spoke about why he had a smile on his face following his impressive ACC Tournament debut.

“I mean all the hard work we done put in this year, it just finally came out to play. So I trusted in my teammates, they found me when I was open, and we got the job done,” Watkins said.

Watkins joined the Seminoles this offseason through the transfer portal after spending the first three seasons of his career at VCU. A move that Florida State fans are surely pleased with after he led the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game in his first season with the team. Saving his best performance of the year for when it mattered most.

After committing just one foul in the first half, the Seminoles found themselves in foul trouble in the second with 14 fouls in the closing period. But a breakout 50-point performance in the second half by Florida State helped them overcome their foul trouble and secure the win.

“Keeping a clear mind knowing that we normally get in foul trouble early in games,” Watkins admitted. “So we just kept a clear mind, we kept fighting.”

Watkins scored 20 of his points in the second half and 12 in the final three minutes of regulation, also scoring his 1,000th career point in Wednesday’s postseason matchup. As the Seminoles will now face the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels tomorrow in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals Thursday at noon ET.

“We played them twice, they got us twice. So we just gotta, like I said, keep a clear mind and we should be able to get it done,” Watkins concluded.

Florida State had the Tar Heels on the ropes when they faced off in December for both team’s ACC opener. Find themselves up by 14 points before North Carolina implemented a full-court press and went on a 22-0 run to pull off the come-from-behind 78-70 win. Falling by seven points in their rematch at home on January 27.

Hopefully, the third time can be the charm for Florida State as they’ll look to upset the ACC’s No. 1 seed tomorrow in Washington, D.C.