No. 19 Florida St. bounces back with rout of Boston College (Feb 20, 2017)

By AP
Published

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) A short turnaround ended up being the perfect remedy for Florida State.

The 19th-ranked Seminoles were playing their second game in three days, but bounced back from Saturday's loss at Pittsburgh in a big way, routing Boston College 104-72 on Monday night.

''A one-day turnaround is sometimes not always the easiest. But I think we did a really, really exceptional job of forgetting about what happened and moving on to the next one,'' said point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who had eight points, five rebounds and 10 assists.

Florida State (22-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) had all 13 players score at least four points as it extended its home winning streak to 20 games.

Dwayne Bacon, who went scoreless in the Pitt game, led the way with 16 points. The 6-foot-7 guard also became only the second sophomore in school history to go over 1,000 career points. He reached the milestone with a 3-pointer early in the second half.

''In every sport, you are going to have one of those days. He moved on from it and don't dwell on it,'' Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. ''He has scored 1,000 points as a sophomore and knows what he needs to do.''

PJ Savoy came off the bench and added 15 points as FSU's reserves outscored the Eagles 59-2. Jonathan Isaac (14 points) and Jarquez Smith (10) also scored in double figures, and the Seminoles never trailed and led by 34 (75-41) six minutes into the second half. They also dominated in the paint with a 52-16 advantage.

Florida State moved into a tie for fourth in the conference standings with Notre Dame as both teams have three games remaining. Hamilton knows what his team can do at home - they are 17-0 at the Tucker Center this season - but he wants to see the same effort on the road with upcoming tests against Clemson (Saturday) and No. 10 Duke (Feb. 28). The top four teams earn a double bye for the conference tournament.

''Obviously we needed to get home and gain a little confidence to being who we are, but I'm glad our next game is on the road. I want to see if we can play with that same level of execution and confidence,'' he said.

Kai Bowman had 24 points and Jerome Robinson 21 for Boston College (9-19, 2-13), which has lost 11 straight and 13 of its last 14.

''I thought they took us out of everything early in the game,'' BC coach Jim Christian said. ''We were forced into a lot of tough shots early. We let them get in transition.''

BIG PICTURE

Boston College: The Eagles have lost 16 straight conference road games, including eight by 20 points or more. The game against Florida State started a stretch when BC plays three of its final four regular season games on the road.

Florida State: The Seminoles have reached double-digit wins in conference play for the first time since going 12-4 in 2011-12. FSU won the ACC Tournament that same season, and it was also the last time it made the NCAA Tournament.

CENTURY MARK

This was the fifth time this season the Seminoles have scored 100 or more points in a game, which is the first time that has happened since 1992-93.

It is the third time they have had two or more 100-point games in ACC play and the first since 1992-93.

UNOFFICIALLY 500

The win was unofficially the 500th for Hamilton, but Florida State was forced to vacate 20 regular season and two NIT wins in 2006-07 due to an academic scandal at Florida State that affected many sports, including football. Hamilton officially has 478 wins overall and 278 at FSU.

UP NEXT

Boston College: The Eagles host Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Hokies won the first game on Jan. 25, 85-79.

Florida State: The Seminoles travel to Clemson on Saturday. They beat the Tigers by 48 points (109-61) on Feb. 5.

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