Syracuse holds off late rally to upend Florida State

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — For the second consecutive game, the No. 6 Florida State Seminoles couldn’t overcome a disastrous first half against an unranked opponent.

Andrew White scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and John Gillon scored Syracuse’s final 13 points as the Syracuse Orange nearly squandered an 18-point halftime leading before defeating Florida State 82-72 on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game before 24,978 fans at the Carrier Dome.

The Seminoles, who have lost two consecutive games for the first time this season, fell behind Georgia Tech 41-15 at the half on Wednesday and lost 78-56.

Florida State (18-4, 6-3 ACC) outscored Syracuse 46-38 in the second half but could never grab the lead.

Gillon scored 21 points, 16 in the second half, and had 11 assists with two turnovers. Tyler Lydon added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Orange (13-9, 5-4).

Dwayne Bacon and Jonathan Isaac led the Seminoles with 19 points apiece, and Isaac also grabbed 12 rebounds.

Sparked by 3-pointers from Isaac and Bacon, the Seminoles outscored Syracuse 15-5 in the first four minutes of the second half to cut the Orange’s lead to 49-41. Syracuse’s White answered with a 3-pointer, but Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes sank a pair of 3-pointers in a 10-2 run that pulled the Seminoles within three, 54-51.

Florida State sliced Syracuse’s lead to two, 64-62, but Lydon’s layup and White’s 3-pointer boosted the Orange’s lead back to 69-62 with five minutes remaining. Bacon’s third 3-pointer of the second half pulled the Seminoles within two for the fifth time in the half, but Gillon’s layup and four free throws increased the Orange’s lead to 78-70.

Braian Angola-Rodas’ 3-pointer gave Florida State a 14-13 lead in a sloppy first half that included 21 turnovers and 20 fouls. But in the final nine minutes of the half, Syracuse outscored the Seminoles 31-12 to build a 44-26 lead at intermission.

Tyler Roberson, who entered the game averaging 6.2 points per game, scored 10 points and Lydon added eight in that 31-12 run. Led by Roberson’s 5 of 6, the Orange shot 50 percent (16 of 32) in the first half while the Seminoles shot just 31.3 percent (10 of 32) and made only two field goals outside of the paint.