Clemson drops fourth straight in 70-65 home loss to Florida State
CLEMSON — Clemson didn’t lose this game in one moment.
It lost it in the stretches of scorelessness, and in everything that made those empty possessions feel familiar.
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Florida State (14- 13, 7-7) closed on a 7-0 run over the final 2:20, turning a one-possession game into a 70-65 win Saturday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum.
It’s Clemson’s (20-8, 10-5) fourth straight loss.
That matches the total from the entire rest of the season.
After Dillon Hunter’s pull-up 3 gave Clemson a 65-63 lead with 2:44 remaining, the Tigers had finally climbed back from another second-half deficit. Momentum had flipped. The game was there.
Clemson just never scored again.
Six straight misses followed. The Tigers went scoreless over the final 2:44 and watched a two-point lead become a five-point deficit as Florida State closed it out at the free-throw line.
For nearly two weeks now, Clemson’s offense has looked less like a system and more like a group waiting for someone to take ownership – not just to make a shot, but to demand one.
At times Saturday, that player appeared.
Ace Buckner was Clemson’s most assertive option early, keeping the Tigers afloat when Florida State’s 2-3 zone slowed everything to a crawl. Clemson opened with just 11 points in the first 11 minutes, starting 3-of-17 from the field while probing the zone without urgency.
Buckner changed the tone.
Rather than settling late in possessions, he attacked gaps and created rhythm, knocking down three 3-pointers in a two-minute stretch late in the first half. That burst helped spark a 10-0 Clemson run that flipped a sluggish start into a 36-33 halftime lead.
It wasn’t just the makes, it was how they came.
Clemson still wasn’t flowing offensively, but Buckner gave possessions direction.
He finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Still, the broader offensive issues lingered.
Florida State’s zone forced Clemson into deliberate, often late decisions. The Tigers shot 21-of-56 (37.5%) from the field and 10-of-33 (30.3%) from 3-point range, struggling not just to make shots but to consistently generate clean ones.
Even when Clemson adjusted, the rhythm came in short bursts.
Butta Johnson provided one of them.
Inserted into the starting lineup in search of frontcourt energy, Johnson went scoreless for nearly 30 minutes before delivering back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half, both coming off composed shot preparation rather than rushed attempts.
He finished with nine points, all from beyond the arc.
That stretch helped Clemson find pace again.
Hunter added to the push with a downhill drive and reverse finish, tying the game at 55 in a span of just over a minute. His night reflected a more aggressive approach, mixing perimeter shooting with downhill attacks on his way to 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
His late 3 gave Clemson its final lead.
His step-back attempt in the closing seconds effectively ended it.
RJ Godfrey complemented that stretch by flashing into open space behind the zone, finishing efficiently around the rim. He scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including two dunks created by baseline cuts and short-corner movement as Clemson swung the ball side to side.
Clemson dominated the offensive glass grabbing 10 offensive boards this afternoon. But those extra chances never translated into second-chance points. The Tigers finished with none.
Florida State, meanwhile, leaned on consistency.
Robert McCray V controlled the game’s decisive stretch, scoring 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting with six rebounds and three assists.
Down the stretch, Florida State cleared space and let him operate. He scored at all three levels – attacking the lane, stepping into rhythm 3s and drawing contact when Clemson overextended.
His layup with 1:37 remaining gave Florida State a 68-65 lead.
Clemson never answered.
The Seminoles shot 23-of-46 (50%) from the field and 10-of-24 (41.7%) from 3, pairing efficient shot-making with timely interior play that kept Clemson from ever fully controlling tempo.
Dallas Thomas added five points in eight minutes, including a three-ball, continuing his recent perimeter efficiency, while Carter Welling and Nick Davidson combined for just four points as Clemson searched for frontcourt production.
And that’s where the game ultimately turned.
Clemson led with 2:44 remaining.
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From that point on, every possession felt like a test of clarity, and the Tigers never quite found it.
The looks were there. The chances were there.
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The finish wasn’t.
Clemson now heads into a weeklong break before hosting Louisville on Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.
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