Florida State men snap Wake Forest win streak, pull off 87-82 victory

The improvement the Florida State men’s basketball team has been making in recent weeks appears to have some staying power.

The Seminoles, who now have the deepest lineup they’ve enjoyed at any point over the last two or three years, controlled most of the action Tuesday night against ACC-leading Wake Forest and held on for an 87-82 victory in the Tucker Center.

With the win, FSU improves to 9-6 overall and 3-1 in the ACC. Wake Forest, which had won nine straight games coming in, fell to 11-4 and 3-1.

With 16 games remaining in the regular season, the Seminoles already have as many wins as they did all of last year, when they finished 9-23.

“A win [like this] for us is huge, especially after coming from a season like last year,” sophomore forward Baba Miller said. “But like the coaches say: ‘Enjoy this win right now. But tomorrow is a new day. We’ve got to get ready for the next one.'”

There were times during Tuesday’s battle when it looked like Florida State, which has now won five of its last six games, might blow the Demon Deacons out. The Seminoles led by 12 points in the first half and 13 in the second.

But every time FSU threatened to put things away, Wake Forest made a run.

Even down the stretch, after senior Darin Green Jr. recorded a steal and scored on a dunk to give the Seminoles an 82-72 advantage, Wake Forest responded with two big 3-pointers to cut the lead to four points with just over a minute remaining.

“They just wouldn’t go away,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said.

But with Wake Forest forced to foul in the final minute, junior point guard Jalen Warley hit three of four free throws and Jamir Watkins hit both of his to put the game out of reach.

The Seminoles have now won three straight ACC games for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign.

Watkins led Florida State with 19 points, and he was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line; the Seminoles hit 24 of 30 free throws as a team. Watkins also dished out nine of Florida State’s 15 assists.

The Seminoles, who recently got big men Jaylan Gainey and Cameron Corhen back from injury and added guard Primo Spears to the lineup once he became eligible, again showed off their much-improved depth. Eleven FSU players scored in the game, and they each played at least nine minutes.

Leading the way with Watkins in the scoring department were Green Jr. with 17 points and Miller’s career-high 14. Miller also blocked three shots, and Green Jr. snared five steals.

“The good news is the kids seem to be buying in to who we are,” Hamilton said, referring to the fact only one Florida State player was on the court for more than 30 minutes, and that was Green Jr. at 31. Conversely, Wake Forest had three of its starters play 33, 36 and 37 minutes.

The Demon Deacons essentially used a seven-man rotation, which could have led to some fatigue at times, especially against a high-pressure FSU defense that forced 20 turnovers.

“I thought Florida State did a really, really good job of speeding us up on offense the entire game,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “Their aggressiveness, their length, and their switching. They made it very difficult for us to get a catch on offense. … I thought they were very handsy on defense, caused us 20 turnovers. I don’t think we’ve had 10 or more — I can’t remember the last time we had 10.”

Junior guard Cameron Hildreth led Wake Forest with 25 points, and sophomore guard Kevin Miller added 21.

Florida State led by 12 points in the first half but only took a 42-41 lead into intermission. The Seminoles were led in the first period by Watkins with 10 points and eight apiece from Miller and Green Jr.

As pleased as he was with the victory, Hamilton said he wants to see his players make better decisions in crucial moments offensively, and also shore up some nagging shortcomings on defense. With the big one being cutting off dribble-penetration, which led to Wake Forest getting a number of wide-open shots from 3-point range.

The Demon Deacons hit 9 of 25 from long range on the night.

“We still have a lot of room to grow,” Hamilton said. “We still have potential that we can get much better. … It’s nice to win a game while you’re still growing.”

BOX SCORE: FSU 87, Wake Forest 82

After a seven-game homestand, the Seminoles now go on the road to face Notre Dame on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. ET.

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