Florida St. downs Va. Tech behind Jamir Watkins’ 34 points

Field Level Media|published: Wed 13th March, 14:42 2024

Mar 13, 2024; Washington, D.C., USA; Virginia Tech Hokies center Lynn Kidd (15) drives to the basket as Florida State Seminoles forward Jamir Watkins (2) defends in the first half at Capital One Arena. credits: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Jamir Watkins scored a career-high 34 points as Florida State surged to an 86-76 victory over Virginia Tech in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Jalen Warley added 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting as the ninth-seeded Seminoles (17-15) advanced to a quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded and fourth-ranked North Carolina on Thursday. Watkins added 11 rebounds and four steals.

Florida State trailed 58-57 with 7 minutes left but the Seminoles followed with an 11-0 run to take command.

Florida State was the dominant team in the frontcourt as it scored 48 points in the paint compared to 32 for eighth-seeded Virginia Tech. The Seminoles also outscored the Hokies on points off turnovers, 25-9.

Sean Pedulla tallied 24 points to pace Virginia Tech (18-14), which entered the tournament on a three-game winning streak. Tyler Nickel recorded 18 points and seven rebounds, and MJ Collins added 15 points for the Hokies.

The Seminoles' decisive 11-point run was fueled by two baskets each from Warley and Primo Spears (10 points). Both had steals during the burst which produced breakaway layups.

Watkins added an emphatic slam dunk after collecting a loose ball in the paint during the spree which gave the Seminoles a 68-58 lead with 3 minutes left.

Down the stretch, the Seminoles remained true from the free-throw line to hold their lead. Watkins finished 14 of 17 as Florida State made 25 of 30 attempts (83.3 percent).

In the first half, Virginia Tech hit a sizzling 64 percent from the floor, including seven straight during one stretch with Pedulla, Collins and Lynn Kidd supplying two apiece.

When Pedulla and Jaydon Young followed with 3-pointers 41 seconds apart, it gave the Hokies their biggest lead of the half, 27-19.

But the Seminoles had their own shooting spree, hitting 10 of 11, with Watkins collecting half of the buckets, including a corner 3 that gave Florida State its biggest lead of the period at 34-31.

The Seminoles will take on a Tar Heels team which enters with a six-game winning streak. North Carolina beat Florida State twice this season, with both games decided by single-digit margins.

—Field Level Media