College Basketball

White, Gillon lead Syracuse past No. 6 FSU 82-72 (Jan 28, 2017)

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:06 a.m. ET

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AP

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) Andrew White scored 24 points, John Gillon had 21 points and matched his career high with 11 assists, and Syracuse upset No. 6 Florida State 82-72 Saturday.

Syracuse (13-9, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its second straight close game and gained its first victory over a ranked team.

A week ago, Florida State (18-4, 6-3 ACC) wrapped up a six-game stretch of consecutive games against ranked teams, and the Seminoles won five of those games to vault into a tie for first place in the ACC standings with North Carolina at 6-1. A 78-56 loss at Georgia Tech on Wednesday night was an eye-opener, as was Syracuse's dominant first half.

The Orange finished off the victory from the free-throw line, with Gillon hitting 10 in the final 3 minutes as he became a force with his aggressive drives through the lane.

Dwayne Bacon and Jonathan Isaac each had 19 points and Xavier Rathan-Mayes 16 for the Seminoles.

Florida State trailed by 18 at the break, but Jonathan Isaac had nine points to start the second half and Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes each hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 49-41 less than four minutes into the second period. The Seminoles hit five of their first six 3-pointers, one by Rathan-Mayes narrowing the Syracuse lead to 54-51 with 12:24 left.

The Orange extended its lead to 69-62 at 5:19 on White's 3 off a court-long pass from Roberson. Rathan-Mayes' fourth 3 of the game cut the lead back to four with 4:08 left.

But the Seminoles were never able to take a lead despite a combined 26 points from Isaac and Bacon in the period.

After the Orange gained an early seven-point lead with some sparkling defense, the Seminoles rallied with a seven-point surge. The Orange then took control, just as it had against Pittsburgh three weeks ago in the opening period in an 11-point win.

Syracuse had a 16-4 run to gain a double-digit lead late in the first half. Lydon had five points and Roberson four to key a surge that gave Syracuse a 33-20 lead. But it was the defense that sparkled. Syracuse forced 11 turnovers, blocked eight shots, and out-rebounded the taller Seminoles 25-20 and nearly matched them on the offensive glass, where FSU is accustomed to dominating.

Roberson's layup in the final minute gave the Orange a 44-26 halftime lead, but the Seminoles weren't about to go away quietly.

Tyler Lydon had 14 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high six blocks for Syracuse and Roberson had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Bacon and Isaac each had 19 points and Rathan-Mayes 16 for the Seminoles.

The last time teams played was in last year's regular-season finale in what was widely regarded as a must-win game for Syracuse to make the NCAA Tournament. The Orange lost 78-73 on the road but made the tournament and went all the way to the national semifinals.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Florida State has won 14 of its last 17 games, but its second straight loss will send the Seminoles down. It's the Seminoles' first two-game losing streak of the season.

HIGLIGHT REEL

With Syracuse up by only a basket with just over 8 minutes left, White's 3-point attempt from the corner hit the rim, but Lydon slammed it home as the Carrier Dome crowd erupted.

BIG PICTURE

Florida State: Bacon, the ACC's eighth-leading scorer (17.4), and Isaac were held to nine points combined as FSU shot 10 of 32 (31.3 percent), 1 of 8 from beyond the arc in the first half. FSU entered the game leading the ACC in field goal percentage (49.8). Bacon has scored 10 or more points in an ACC-best 30 straight games. ... FSU has won only one road game, 60-58 over Virginia on Dec. 31.

Syracuse:

Since starting the season with four wins, the Orange's longest winning streak is two games. ... Syracuse, which led the conference with 8.43 steals per game, finished with 11 and nine blocks. ... The Orange forced 15 turnovers and outscored FSU 15-11 in second-chance points. ... Syracuse out-rebounded Florida State 42-39 and trailed only 17-16 on the offensive glass.

UP NEXT

Florida State travels to play Miami on Wednesday night.

Syracuse travels to play North Carolina State on Wednesday night.

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More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25.

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Follow Kekis on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Greek1947

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