WASHINGTON — Jameel Watkins scored 12 of his career-high 34 points in the final three minutes, Jalen Worley added 18 points and No. 9 seed Florida State pulled away in the second half, leading to No. 8 seed Wednesday. They defeated Virginia Tech 86-76. ACC tournament second round.
Watkins went 9-of-15 from the field and 14-of-17 from the free-throw line, setting a program record for points in an ACC tournament game. He also had 11 rebounds and four steals. Worley made 8 of 10 shots as Florida State shot 54% from the field.
Virginia Tech made 4 of 17 shots in the first 17 minutes of the second half. The Hokies also finished with 13 turnovers, giving the Seminoles 25 points.
Florida State (17-15) advances to play No. 1 seed and No. 4 North Carolina State in Thursday's quarterfinals. The Seminoles lost both regular season games to the Tar Heels, 78-70 on the road and 75-68 at home. Florida State hasn't beaten North Carolina since the 2020-21 season.
Tyler Nickell sank a long 3-pointer with 7:28 left to tie the game at 57-all, but Virginia Tech got within 71-62 with a basket by Sean Pedula with 2:42 left. He couldn't score a field goal until then.
Florida State took advantage of consecutive Virginia Tech turnovers with layups by Worley and Primo Spears to take a 63-58 lead with 5:01 left. Another steal under the basket led to Wally's fast break layup to make it 68-58 at 3:06.
Each team turned it around on an inbounds play, and Watkins was fouled before making two free throws at 2:49. Watkins added two more free throws at 2:30 and an alley-oop dunk at 2:11 for a 74-65 lead.
Spears finished with 10 points for the Seminoles.
Pedula had 24 points, Nickel had 18 points and MJ Collins had 15 points for Virginia Tech (18-14).
Both teams shot over 55% from the field in the first half. Virginia Tech shot 64 percent (16-of-25) in the first half, but went 4-of-11 from 3-point range before finishing at 49 percent.
