FSU basketball (11-12, 4-6 ACC) exploded to a huge first-half lead against Notre Dame (11-13, 2-9 ACC), but had to hold on for dear life in the second half for an 82- 79 win. It’s the third straight ACC win for the Noles.
This game went just as the season stats suggested for the most part. The stats said Notre Dame struggles at the free-throw line, and they went 15 of 24 from the charity stripe. Notre Dame rebounds the ball well, and they had the edge on the boards, especially on offense. Notre Dame shoots the three-ball decently and made 10 of 31 attempts.
FSU shot the three-ball much better than usual, making 15 of 37 attempts. They made 17 of 22 free throws, and those two areas were large reasons why FSU won the game.
Five Major Takeaways
- Florida State continues to explode out of the gates in the first half and allows teams back in the game in the second half
- FSU shot the three-pointer much better than usual
- FSU only had five turnovers
- FSU scored 14 points off of 12 Notre Dame turnovers
- FSU didn’t fold when Notre Dame took the lead with a couple of minutes remaining after leading for nearly the entire game
FSU jumped to a 17-2 lead, but allowed Notre Dame to work itself back into the game. It’s something the Noles have done a few times lately. It was a great job of jumping out in front to a big lead while on the road, but they must put teams away when they get the chance.
Wiggins with the score and one more! 💪#Connected pic.twitter.com/3FxAHuSviH
— Florida State Men’s Basketball (@FSUHoops) February 7, 2026
Chauncey Wiggins led FSU with 22 points and made five three point shots
FSU went back to shooting more than half of its shots from three-point range. That’s not a recipe for success, but fortunately, they made 15 of those attempts. Maybe they shot more since the shots were falling early, but they still probably shot too many threes.
A team with only five turnovers is ELITE. It’s not going to get much better than that. That’s one reason they won the game.
It’s also great to limit turnovers and capitalize on the turnovers that Notre Dame had. Those 14 points scored off their turnovers were huge in winning a game that got close down the stretch.
A lot of teams would have folded on the road after leading by a large margin and giving up a lead with 2:07 remaining. FSU got lucky that Notre Dame can’t shoot free throws well, but did a great job capitalizing on Notre Dame’s flaws.
That’s how you win games that are decided by only a few points. It’s great to see this team finding some type of identity and showing enough proof of concept that fans don’t totally check out.