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No. 15 FSU looks to stay perfect at home (Feb 05, 2017)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State on the road this year?
Eh, not so hot.
But Florida State at home? That's where the Seminoles have been unstoppable.
No. 15 Florida State (19-4 overall, 7-3 ACC) returns from a three-game road trip Sunday to the Donald L. Tucker Center, where the Seminoles will host Clemson (13-8, 3-6) and put their unbeaten home record of 14-0 this season on the line against the Tigers.
"(Playing at home) energizes our players," said Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team has won 17 games in a row at the Tucker Center dating to last season. "It's tough playing on the road, especially in the ACC. But when we're home, it gives us a chance to return the favor."
All four of the Seminoles' losses this season have come on the road, including dropping two of their last three games during that recent three-game stretch away from Tallahassee. Florida State opened its road swing by getting trounced by both Georgia Tech and Syracuse, then righted the ship Wednesday night with a comeback win against bitter in-state foe Miami.
The victory against the Hurricanes was only Florida State's third true road win of the season, the other two coming at Virginia and at George Washington.
Seminoles guard C.J. Walker said he can't wait to suit up for the home fans Sunday. After all, there hasn't been one time this season that the garnet and gold crowd has left disappointed -- and Florida State wants to keep it that way.
"It's just so much better to be home," Walker said "It gets me excited and hype to play."
Clemson enters the game on a two-game win streak -- a stark contrast to how most of the Tigers' January went. Clemson was 0-6 last month until snapping the skid on Jan. 28 with a win at Pittsburgh, then they followed that up Wednesday with a 74-62 victory against Georgia Tech -- the same Georgia Tech team that just hammered the Seminoles by 22 points (78-56) two weeks ago in Atlanta.
So while the Tigers don't have very many ACC wins this season, they do have confidence heading into the showdown with Florida State.
"Our guys have bounced back from a couple of tough weeks," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "Really pleased (these last two games). We've had balanced scoring, our defense was better again. We've really been working on our rebounding and transition defense, and our guys have taken the message to heart."
A big reason for that recent surge has been the play of Tigers forward Elijah Thomas, who got his first start of the season against Georgia Tech and responded with his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
"He did a great job. I thought we got him the ball right away, first possession he got it on the low block and he turned and scored," Brownell said. "He competed on the glass. He had seven defensive rebounds. He did a tremendous job."
Also doing a tremendous job -- all season -- for the Tigers is forward Jaron Blossomgame, who is one of the conference's top scorers, averaging 18 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.
Florida State counters with a star of its own: Guard Dwayne Bacon extended his double-figure scoring streak to 32 games, dating to last season, when he finished with 15 points Wednesday against Miami.
Bacon is leading the Seminoles with an average of 17.1 points per game, followed by freshman phenom forward Jonathan Isaac, who is averaging 13.3 points and eight boards. Isaac is coming off a 15-point, seven-rebound, three-steal performance against Miami.
While Florida State leads the all-time series 38-31, the Tigers are in search of their third win against Florida State in the last four trips to Tallahassee. The Seminoles won the most recent meeting at home, 76-65.
Florida State, which was ranked as high as No. 6 a week ago, can assure it will stay in the AP Top 25 Poll for the ninth straight week with a win Sunday. But a third loss in four games could send the Seminoles tumbling again. And guard Terance Mann knows this is not the time in the season to get caught slipping.
"Sometimes you want to have a walk in the park like some conferences have," Mann said. "But there's nothing like that in the ACC."
