CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) - Marcquise Reed scored 22 points and No. 18 Clemson won a program-record 11th Atlantic Coast Conference game with a 76-63 victory over Florida State on Wednesday night.
The Tigers (22-7, 11-6) had won 10 league games six times in 64 years as ACC members, but have never before won this many conference games in a regular season. And they did it with late rallies in both halves.
Clemson trailed 24-16 in the opening half before closing the period on a 21-8 charge. Florida State clawed back to lead 45-42 midway through the second half before the Tigers took over and outscored the Seminoles 34-18 the rest of the way.
Florida State (19-10, 8-9) closed to 64-61 on Phil Cofer's 3-pointer with 2:58 remaining, but got no closer.
Gabe DeVoe had 13 points while Shelton Mitchell and Elijah Thomas had 11 points each for the Tigers, who took another step toward earning a top four seed in next week's ACC Tournament. Clemson came into the game tied for fourth with North Carolina State. The Wolfpack play at Georgia Tech on Thursday night.
Cofer led the Seminoles with 21 points. Florida State's leading scorer, Terance Mann, had an awful shooting night as he went 1 of 9 from the field for three points, 10 fewer than his average.
Reed had 13 points in the second half to rally the Tigers. He also added seven rebounds and five assists.
BIG PICTURE
Florida State: The Seminoles are long, strong and athletic, but struggled to get rebounds with only 12 in the opening 20 minutes. Florida State has a 3.8 rebounding margin this season, but got outrebounded 20-12 by the Tigers. Only Trent Forrest and Braian Angola had more than one board for the Seminoles. The Tigers wound up winning the battle of the boards, 39-30. That must improve if Florida State hopes to make noise in the postseason.
Clemson: It may be a simplification of things for the Tigers, but when they make shots they can beat anybody. When they miss, they can lose to anyone. That was on display against Florida State as Clemson shot just 8 of 24 and fell behind 24-16. Over the final 6 minutes of the opening half, they went 4 of 7 as part of 21-8 run to lead 35-32 at the break. Clemson made 11 of 26 field goals in the second half to crawl past 40 percent shooting for the game.
UP NEXT
Florida State closes the regular season at home against Boston College on Saturday.
Clemson travels to Syracuse on Saturday.
