FSU basketball: Noles fall to Clemson for third straight loss

FSU basketball (13-8, 6-5 ACC) went on the road and lost their third consecutive game, 75-69, against the Clemson Tigers.

The Noles returned two starters in RayQuan Evans and Caleb Mills, but it wasn’t enough as the Noles continued to struggle defensively. Clemson shot 61 percent overall and made 5 of 10 three-pointers in the first half.

The Noles shot 48 percent but were only 3 of 11 from three-point land for a 45-36 halftime deficit. The sad part is FSU failed to close another half strong as the score was 30-30 with 3:58 remaining.

The only bright spot was only five turnovers in the first half and 10 points off of nine Clemson turnovers. The Noles struggled to defend off the dribble and the perimeter and gave up layups on backdoor cuts.

The second half was more of the same, with Clemson scoring at will. However, FSU finally began to hit some shots from the perimeter to trim the lead to 62-58 with 10:22 remaining. FSU was shooting 56 percent and 7 of 17 from three-point land at this point.

A Clemson timeout seemed to thwart FSU’s momentum, and Clemson opened their lead back to 67-60 with 7:47 remaining. However, a quick 4-0 run from the Noles cut the lead to 67-64 with 6:22 remaining.

The Noles missed some opportunities but continued to keep it close with a 69-66 deficit at the 2:50 mark. A Caleb Mills free throw cut the lead to 69-67 with 2:25 remaining.

The Noles never got any closer as Clemson controlled the rest of the game and made their free throws to ice the game. FSU got dominated on the boards and missed six free throws while allowing Clemson to shoot 52 percent from the floor and 6 of 15 from the three-point line.

FSU has to figure out something on defense or it’s going to be a struggle to win any games down the stretch the remainder of the year.