FSU basketball closes regular season with 91-78 win over SMU

· Yahoo Sports

Florida State basketball closed the regular season against the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Mustangs on Mar. 7 at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, toppling the Mustangs in dominant fashion, 91-78. 

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Chauncey Wiggins leads FSU with career-high 31 points

Senior forward Chauncey Wiggins led the way for the Seminoles, scoring a career-high 31 points, eclipsing his previous career-high of 23 points against Stanford on Jan. 31. Senior guard Robert McCray V notched a double double with 17 points and 12 assists, his third of the season and his first in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. Four FSU players finished in double figures.

“They deserved to win this game, they shot the lights out,” SMU head coach Andy Enfield said in the postgame conference. “They were outstanding moving the ball. Wiggins caught fire. [McCray] was spectacular; his passing to get guys involved.”

FSU seniors shine in emotional final home game at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center

The final home game of the season honored senior forward Shah Muhammad, senior forward Alex Steen, senior guard Lajae Jones, senior guard Kobe Magee, McCray V, and Wiggins before tipoff. 82 of the ‘Noles 91 points came from those six seniors.

“They played with the energy and the passion, and the urgency, the competitive spirit that I want to continue to build this program with,” head coach Luke Loucks said after the game. “I would sign up to coach these six [again] any day of the week from this season until whenever I retire.”

The Garnet and Gold opened the game strong, scoring eight of the first 10 points to take an 8-2 lead early. SMU tied the game at 18 with 7:52 remaining in the first half before Florida State responded with an 11-0 run. Wiggins and McCray sparked the surge with back-to-back threes, leading Seminoles to a 26-18 lead.

FSU continued to click on all cylinders with another 9-0 run, once again fueled by Wiggins and McCray. Jones punctuated the stretch with a coast-to-coast steal and layup plus the foul, extending the lead to 38-21 with 2:10 remaining in the half.

The Mustangs briefly halted the ’Noles with a four-point play from senior forward Corey Washington, but Steen quickly answered. He scored the Garnet and Gold’s final four points of the half with a slam dunk and a fadeaway jumper, sending Florida State to the locker room with a 45-27 advantage. 

Through 20 minutes, the Seminoles shot an effective 50% from the field, while holding the Mustangs to 33.3%. 

Wiggins picked up right where he left off to start the second half, scoring FSU’s first six points with a contested corner three and a tough driving layup through multiple SMU defenders for an and-one. 

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