FSU Basketball Falls on the Road to Clemson, 77-57

Clemson lit the Seminoles up from three and FSU lost big
Jan 8, 2025; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles forward Malique Ewin (12) dunks against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half at Watsco Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Jan 8, 2025; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles forward Malique Ewin (12) dunks against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half at Watsco Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Florida State traveled to South Carolina to take on the Clemson Tigers on Saturday afternoon, with the Seminoles looking to break a five-game losing streak at Littlejohn Coliseum, while Clemson was looking to avoid a second loss this week.

The Seminoles hung in early, using deep threes from Jamir Watkins to start the game as everyone else settled in. A 6-0 run by the Seminoles gave them a brief two-point lead, as Clemson had some foul issues early, with Viktor Lakhin picking up two fouls in the first six minutes.

Things started going Clemson's way after that, especially from three-point range. At one point in the second half, the Tigers were 7/10 from deep, getting multiple made three-pointers from Chase Hunter, Dillon Jones, and Jaeden Zackery. That helped them establish a lead as large as nine before the end of the half, taking a 36-29 lead into halftime.

It was an ugly start to the second half for the Seminoles, though. Clemson started the first four minutes on a 13-2 run to go up by 18. Chase Hunter was putting his fingerprints all over the game, scoring 10 points in the first eight minutes of the half. FSU wasn't helping themselves with some poor defensive rebounding and questionable officiating, but they couldn't go downhill like they wanted.

To combat that, Jerry Deng and Malique Ewin started to make some shots as FSU slowly climbed back into the game. But Jaeden Zackery hit a tough, contested mid-range shot with a little over six minutes to go to push the lead to 14. Chauncey Wiggins hit one just like it a few minutes later to push it up to 18, making the game seem out of reach.

Clemson would go on to win 77-57 behind 25 points from Chase Hunter, 15 from Jaeden Zackery, and 12 from Chauncey Wiggins. Florida State held Ian Schieffelin, Clemson's second-leading scorer coming into the game, to just two points. To still lose by as much as FSU did is disheartening.

Malique Ewin was FSU's best player, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds, but Jerry Deng was FSU's second-best for most of the game with 11 points. FSU can't win that way, as they didn't get the production out of Taylor Bol Bowen or Daquan Davis that they got last time against Miami. Jamir Watkins was in double-figures with 11 points, but he shot just 3/12 from the floor and 2/8 from three.

Clemson dominated this game from the three-point line mainly, going 13/28 from deep while FSU was just 2/8. Everything else was pretty even across the board.

Florida State will be back at home on Wednesday against a good Pitt team.

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1. Chase Hunter

Florida State didn't have an answer for Chase Hunter, who ended the game with 25 points. This is what you'd expect from a sixth-yeard guard in college basketball, controlling the game and having answers whenever they were needed. And FSU just couldn't stop him. He made some tough shots, but he was also open more often than he needed to be.

2. Quiet Jamir Watkins Game

Jamir Watkins hit two deep threes to start the game and was mostly quiet after. Clemson was doing a good job of walling up against him and not giving him driving lanes. He didn't score again until there was 4:39 left on the clock. Malique Ewin is really good, but he can't carry the team without some help from Watkins. FSU can't win a lot of games when he only has 11 points on 3/12 shooting.

3. Tough Shot Making

Sometimes, a game comes down to who can hit more tough shots, the ones that aren't expected to go in. Clemson hit quite a few of those: at least four contested mid-range shots, a few contested threes, and one that hit the back of the rim and spun in. And FSU had some open looks that didn't drop; it's as simple as that sometimes. Clemson's defense severely impacted the 'Noles from what they wanted, while they were getting a few tough shots to go in.


READ MORE: FSU Basketball Dominates Miami On the Road, 80-65

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Austin Veazey
AUSTIN VEAZEY

Lead basketball writer; Former FSU Men's Basketball Manager from 2016-2019