No. 15 Florida State routs Clemson behind 17 3-pointers

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 ACC) 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.

The Tigers came in with a two-game winning streak but committed a season-high 22 turnovers and were outscored 40-20 in the paint. Donte Grantham, who came in averaging 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds over the past four games, was held to five points and six rebounds.

This story was originally published February 6, 2017 at 12:19 AM with the headline "No. 15 Florida State routs Clemson behind 17 3-pointers."