FSU Basketball Beats Wake Forest in Second OT

FSU basketball needed 50 minutes to complete its comeback and top the Wake Forest Demon Deacons tonight, but the ‘Noles got the result they sought and pulled out an 82-76 double-overtime victory.

For much of the game, it felt like we’d seen this before.

Specifically, the last time the Seminoles played here, when they dropped a 72-63 contest to NC State.

Like the NC State game, the ‘Noles once again fell behind big in this one, trailing by 15 in the first half. The culprit? Woeful Seminole shooting. Eight minutes in, FSU was shooting just 17% from the floor, and it trailed 15-4. Wake Forest wasn’t about to wait around, and the Deacons pulled away thanks to a hot start from long range, making five of their first nine attempts from downtown.

But Wake Forest may have shot the ‘Noles back into this one, as they kept hoisting from deep, despite missing their next eight straight attempts. FSU, meanwhile, came alive from beyond the arc, particularly Devon Bookert, who sunk 3-4 threes and finished with 15.

Florida State finally caught the Deacons with 14 minutes left, tying things up at 43. From there on in, the teams traded the lead back and forth, neither squad able to establish any real rhythm. And the same issue that prevented the ‘Noles from toppling NC State surfaced again in this one: FSU struggled mightily, once more, to end opponent possessions. The Seminoles would play solid defense, only to allow offensive rebounds that kept them defending longer. The Deacons finished with 22 offensive boards to the Seminoles’ 11.

Florida State head coach puts a lot of the issue on Wake’s shot selection, as the Deacs shot 27 threes: “When you shoot that many threes, the ball’s gonna bounce long.”

Still, Wake couldn’t convert enough of those second chances, nor could the ‘Noles hit the big shot late, although Phil Cofer was a second half force, pouring in 13 of his 19 points after halftime. Xavier Rathan-Mayes, fresh off a career high of 35 against North Carolina, had a jumper to win it late, but he missed everything, and with the score 65-65, overtime beckoned. Hamilton said he’d have preferred to see the ball going toward the basket, commenting: “we need to make a better decision.”

But one extra period wasn’t enough. After five minutes of free basketball, neither team had put together enough consistent ball to earn a win, and still tied, at 72-72, FSU saw its first multiple-overtime game since a 2011 tilt against Princeton.

The second overtime followed the same script. Until Rathan-Mayes tried his hand at putting it away.

And we’d seen this before.

Well, not quite.

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With less than a minute remaining, the ‘Noles up by one, and the shot clock running down, XRM once again took the shot, and it came from about the same place as his attempted winner at the end of regulation. But while he found nothing but air on his first try, this one found a difference substance: twine. His bucket put FSU up 79-76, and when he was fouled thereafter, he nailed two clutch free throws to put this one away and finish with a team-high 21 points and five assists.

We’d seen a lot of this before, against NC State. But not the ‘Noles finishing, the way they did tonight. As Hamilton summed it up after the game: “we’ve got a lot of heroes.”

The win improves FSU to 11-10 on the season and 3-5 in the ACC. The Seminoles return to action on Sunday, when they’ll host the No. 23 Miami Hurricanes at the Tucker Center at 12:30 pm.

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