Florida State men pull out 77-74 win over Virginia Tech

Primo Spears came up empty on his first chance to clinch the victory Saturday for the Florida State men’s basketball team.

But he didn’t on his second.

After drawing a foul on Virginia Tech guard Hunter Cattoor with 1.2 seconds remaining, Spears drained both free throws to give the Seminoles a two-point lead. Then teammate Taylor Bol Bowen hit one more free throw to give Florida State a 77-74 win over the Hokies.

“I just wanted to find my touch, but I was definitely confident going back to the line,” Spears said. “I’m shooting a great percentage (87.5) from the free-throw line this year, so I was very confident going back. And happy to be back.”

With the win, Florida State improves to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. Virginia Tech falls to 9-5, 1-2.

Just 12 seconds before Spears hit his clutch free throws, the Georgetown guard transfer missed two others that would have put Florida State ahead by four points with 13.5 remaining. He said both shots felt good coming out of his hand, but one rimmed out and the other got a tough bounce off the back of the rim.

But after Virginia Tech guard Sean Pedulla tied the game with two free throws with five seconds remaining, Spears took the ensuing inbounds pass and raced up the court, where he was fouled by Cattoor while attacking the basket.

The Seminoles didn’t have a great night shooting the ball, hitting just 20 percent (3 of 15) from 3-point range and 62 percent from the free-throw line (18 of 29). But their aggressive defense — and a great depth advantage — helped get Florida State back in the game after Virginia Tech took a nine-point lead early in the second half.

FSU’s bench outscored the Hokies’ bench 39-14, and the Seminoles’ defense forced 16 turnovers — scoring 17 points off those turnovers — to take control of the game.

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said he is seeing signs of his team getting better defensively, but he added that there is still too much inconsistency.

“We’ve had flashes, no doubt about that,” Hamilton said.

“We have slippages sometimes during the game,” Spears added. “But everybody has each other’s backs. So if somebody gets beat off the ball or if somebody messes up a concept, I think our help-side defense is what’s getting us by.”

Sophomore Baba Miller and senior Darin Green Jr. led Florida State with three steals apiece.

After falling into that early second-half deficit, the Seminoles went on a 14-0 run to take a 55-48 advantage midway through the second half. The final nine points of that run came almost exclusively on hustle plays by the Seminoles.

Junior point guard Jalen Warley grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to make it 48-48. Because he was fouled on the play, Warley was awarded an additional free throw. And when he missed it, Miller grabbed the offensive rebound and fed sophomore center Cameron Corhen for a dunk.

Two possessions later, Miller recorded a steal and scored to give Florida State a 52-48 advantage. He also had a chance to convert a three-point play but missed the ensuing free throw, and the Seminoles simply continued to battle on the boards for more chances. Three offensive rebounds later, Corhen once again scored inside and was fouled — and he made the free throw to give FSU a seven-point advantage.

“That was just going for it,” Miller said. “Just going all out. Just doing what the coaches ask us to do. Crash the boards. Be aggressive. We just did what we were supposed to do.”

Then after Virginia Tech sliced the lead to three points, Florida State went on another 7-0 run to push the advantage to 10 with just over two minutes remaining.

The Hokies then tied it, thanks in part to Florida State’s struggles at the free-throw line.

FSU had four players finish in double-figures scoring: Spears and Jaylan Gainey finished with 11 points apiece, and Green and Jamir Watkins each had 10.

Miller scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. He also dished out five assists to go with those aforementioned three steals.

The Seminoles wrap up their seven-game home stand this Tuesday against visiting Wake Forest. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Box Score: FSU 77, Virginia Tech 74

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