Dwayne Bacon ties career high with 29 points as FSU rocks Clemson

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Dwayne Bacon's hot start on Sunday ended up being contagious.

Florida State's sophomore guard tied a career high with 29 points as the 15th-ranked Seminoles rolled to a 109-61 victory over Clemson.

Bacon made six 3-pointers and was 10 of 14 from the field. He had 18 points in the first half as the Seminoles (20-4, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) built a 51-25 lead at halftime. The Seminoles made 17 3-pointers, which is the most they have had in an ACC game.

"I don't know how I was so open early. One shot it was a pump fake and I knew it was going to be a special day," said Bacon, who has scored in double figures in 34 straight games.

It is the first time Florida State has reached the century mark in an ACC game since a 111-109 loss in double overtime to Georgia Tech on Feb. 11, 1999. The 48-point margin also marks its biggest win in conference history, surpassing the 36-point victory over Virginia in 1994.

The Seminoles shot 66.1 percent from the field (41 of 62) as coach Leonard Hamilton was pleased with his team's ball movement, especially getting it to Bacon when they knew he was hot.

"His teammates were aggressively looking for him," Hamilton said. "They knew he had the hot hand but they were passing up good shots in order to get him the ball."

Terance Mann, who added 11 points, said that they are always looking for Bacon but this was one of those games where everything was falling the right way.

"He's just waiting for it to come to him," Mann said. "It was all us creating for him and kicking it to him or him driving to the basket."

Bacon, who shot just 28.1 percent on 3-pointers last season, is making 40 percent from beyond the arc this season. He is 13 of 27 over the past four games.

"Last year he was one of those guys who was a streaky shooter, but he isn't now," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "It's not just that he is making 3-pointers but the range in which he is doing it. He had a couple from 24-25 feet today."

The Seminoles led by as many as 51 late in the second half as all 13 players got in the scoring column. Braian Angola-Rodas added 12 points, including three 3-pointers.

Avry Holmes led Clemson (13-9, 3-7) with 15 points and Marcquise Reed added 12.

BIG PICTURE

Clemson: The Tigers came in with a two-game winning streak but committed a season-high 22 turnovers -- leading to 35 Florida State points. With Syracuse and Duke on the schedule this week, that was not the effort Brownell was looking for from his team.

"We didn't play at all. I'm really disappointed in my team," he said. "Certainly Florida State played great but we didn't put up much of a resistance today."

Florida State: The Seminoles remain a game off the lead in the ACC and remain in great position to earn a double bye to next month's conference tournament. It is also the earliest date in program history that it has reached 20 wins, beating the previous mark of Feb. 14, 1970, during the 1969-70 season.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Florida State was ranked as high as sixth two weeks ago but fell nine spots last week after losses at Georgia Tech and Syracuse. With an 18-point win at Miami last Wednesday and Sunday's rout over Clemson, the Seminoles should be moving up a couple spots when the new rankings are released on Monday.

KEY RUN

Holmes gave Clemson a 7-6 lead before the Seminoles took control with a 14-1 run where they were 6 of 6 from the field. FSU blew it wide open at the end of the first half with a 17-2 spurt.

LETDOWN

Florida State's Johnathan Isaac came in averaging 16 points and 9.8 rebounds over his past six games, but the standout freshman had just two points (1 of 4 from the field) and five rebounds. Hamilton did say he was pleased with Isaac's defense as he held Clemson's Jaron Blossomgame to 11 points and 4 of 11 from the field.

UP NEXT

Clemson: The Tigers host Syracuse on Tuesday, which marks the second time this season they have to play two conference games in three days.

Florida State: The Seminoles remain at home and face North Carolina State on Wednesday. FSU won both meetings last season.