CLEMSON, S.C. — Toney Douglas had 23 points and Florida State came from 19 down in the second half to defeat 10th-ranked Clemson 65-61 on Saturday night.
The Tigers (19-3, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) had beaten No. 4 Duke 74-47 here Wednesday night and looked on the way to a similar blowout, ahead 44-25 with 15 minutes to go. But the Seminoles (18-5, 5-3) gave Clemson something the Blue Devils couldn’t — a second-half fight.
The Tigers were still ahead 57-42 on Trevor Booker’s 3-pointer with 9 minutes left when Douglas brought Florida State back, scoring 12 points in a 23-4 run to the finish.
Solomon Alabi had 17 points, including a turnaround jumper with 2:03 left that put the Seminoles ahead for good.
Booker and Demontez Stitt had 11 points each to lead Clemson.
The Tigers and their sold-out crowd came out like they’d never left Littlejohn Coliseum after the Duke blowout.
Raymond Sykes jammed home the Tigers’ first bucket to the same thunderous applause he and his teammates got on several highlight reel dunks three nights earlier.
By the time Booker added his own high-flying jam that again brought the house down, Clemson was up 23-10 with 9:24 left in the first half — and seemingly on the way to another Blue Devil-style rout.
The Tigers and Douglas foreshadowed what happened at the end in the opening half.
Clemson went the final five minutes of the period without scoring, while Douglas, who had only three points in the opening half, hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to send Florida State into the locker room down just 30-22.
Then, with the sounds of a sold-out Littlejohn crowd ringing in their ears after Booker’s 3-pointer, the Seminoles got going.
Alabi began the comeback with an inside bucket, then Douglas hit a jumper. He added a 3-pointer moments later and Florida State trailed 57-51.
Luke Louck’s 3-pointer, his only basket, cut the lead to one and Alabi hit the eventual game winner for Florida State’s first win at Clemson since 2001 — a string of seven straight losses.
Florida State did a good job in the period limiting Booker, Clemson’s leading scorer who had 21 points in the Duke win. He took only two shots for two points the first 20 minutes.
Booker took only seven shots and had five rebounds total, four off his team-leading average.
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