Florida State slams N.C. State

Florida State (21-4 overall, 9-3 in the ACC) is now 16-0 in Tallahassee this year, and its home winning streak was stretched Wednesdsay to 19 victories in a row dating back to last season after a 95-71 victory Wednesday might

Seminoles star guard Dwayne Bacon extended his double-figure scoring streak to 34 games in the win, finishing with 19 points and nine rebounds in a game Florida State dominated from the opening tip and led by as many as 26 points midway through the second half.

Florida State won its third straight game, while the Wolfpack dropped their fourth in a row. The Seminoles’ victory Wednesday moved them a half game back of first-place North Carolina in the ACC standings with six regular-season games left to play.

N.C. State (14-11, 3-9) was led by guard Terry Henderson with 17 points, and the Wolfpack also got a solid games from forward Malik Abdul-Abu and Maverick Rowan, both of whom finished with 16 points. Abdul-Abu contributed a team-high six boards.

Noticeably missing from the top of the Wolfpack’s stat sheet Wednesday, however, was N.C. State star guard Dennis Smith Jr., who came into the game the fifth-leading scorer in the ACC at 19.2 points.

But Wednesday, the No. 4-rated NBA prospect was held to just eight points in the loss, including being shutout in the first half after going 0 of 4 from the floor and facing numerous Florida State double teams.

N.C. State didn’t help itself by going 5 of 21 from 3-point land, including 1 of 8 in the first half. The Seminoles also out-rebounded the Wolfpack in a big way 49-25.

The Wolfpack cut the Florida State lead to 16 points, 76-60, with 7:27 remaining in the game on back-to-back 3-pointers by Henderson, but N.C. State never got any closer.

Florida State center Michael Ojo notched 11 points in the victory, and the Seminoles also got a big game from guard Terance Mann, who just missed a double-double with eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Guards Xavier Rathan-Mayes and forward Phil Cofer also both scored eight points for the Seminoles.

The Seminoles, who led comfortably 45-30 at the break, jumped out to an 20-8 advantage nine minutes into the contest, with Isaac scoring the first seven points of the game and 11 of Florida State’s first 20. He went to halftime with a game-high 17 points.

Florida State’s lead grew to 37-18 with 4:35 left before halftime thanks in part to the Wolfpack shooting 6 of 21 from the field at the time.

N.C. State could have been down more than 15 points at halftime had Florida State not gone 7 of 13 from the foul line in the first half.

The Seminoles improved in the second half from the charity stripe, finishing 20 of 31 as a team.

Florida State will head back out on the road for its next game, which will be Saturday at Notre Dame — a team hungry for revenge after the Seminoles edged the Fight Irish 83-80 on Jan. 18 in Tallahassee.

The rest of Florida State’s regular-season schedule — which features four out of is final six games away from Tallahassee — will likely be tough for the Seminoles, who haven’t been great away from home this season. All four losses on their record this season have come on the road.

The Wolfpack also returns to action Saturday when they travel to face Wake Forest.

NOTES: Florida State’s nine straight weeks on the Top 25 Poll is its most since the program’s 1989-90 season and the highest it reached this season was No. 6 in the poll. The Seminoles are also currently ranked No. 6 in the NCAA RPI Poll. … N.C. State G Dennis Smith Jr. was named ACC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season Monday after notching his second triple-double of the season with 13 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds against Syracuse last week. Smith is just the fourth place in ACC history to post two tripled-doubles in a single season … Bacon may have stretched his double-figure scoring streak to 34 games Wednesday, but he still has a long way to go to match or surpass the school record, which is 72 — held by for Seminoles star Dave Fedor during the 1961, 1962 and 1963 seasons … Despite the loss, N.C. State finished with a season-low 11 turnovers.