If it was possible for the Florida State men's basketball team to have a more improbable victory than last Saturday's last-second win at Virginia, this might have been it.
The Seminoles, once again playing without four injured starters, turned up their defensive pressure in the second half Wednesday night and upset Notre Dame, 74-70.
Four FSU players scored in double-figures, led by freshman John Butler with a career-high 16, and RayQuan Evans hit two clutch free throws with 9.7 seconds remaining to secure the win.
Notre Dame, which had won seven of its past eight games and was still in the running for the regular-season ACC title, fell to 21-9 and 14-5 in the conference. Florida State improves to 16-13 and 9-10.
*** Don't miss out on any of our great FSU sports coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial ***
Box Score: FSU 74, Notre Dame 70
"I can't say enough about this team," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They keep finding ways to go out and represent themselves. ... We challenged our team to understand that we had an opportunity to prove to a lot of people how you handle adversity."
Butler, who had only scored in double-figures once since December, set new career-highs for points (16), rebounds (8) and blocked shots (4).
It was a huge boost on a night when the Seminoles got one starter back from injury but played without another.
Senior guard Anthony Polite, who hadn't played in a month due to wrist surgery, came back and was immediately inserted into the starting lineup. But freshman guard Matthew Cleveland, who was the hero of last Saturday's win at Virginia, was held out with a virus.
Polite, Evans and center Tanor Ngom each scored 12 points.
Polite drained a huge 3-pointer with 46 seconds left to give FSU a 72-67 lead. Then after the Irish cut the deficit to 72-70, Evans hit his two clutch free throws to create the final margin.
"His play, his leadership, his experience was extremely valuable," Hamilton said of Polite.
Hamilton said the Seminoles didn't know Polite would be available until he went through his first full-contact practice on Tuesday and came through it without any setbacks. The senior still had a light cast on his non-shooting wrist in Wednesday's game.
"I've been telling him (Hamilton) I wanted to get back and be with the guys on the court," said Polite, who hadn't played since Feb. 2 against Clemson. "The doctor finally cleared me, and I was able to be out there and get a 'dub' (win) today."
Florida State trailed 44-39 at halftime but limited the Irish to 26 points in the second half. Not only did the Seminoles force tougher shots after halftime, but they also did a much better job of keeping Notre Dame off of the offensive boards.
After scoring 15 second-chance in the first half, the Irish scored just four in the second.
"I thought that made the difference in the game," Hamilton said.
The Seminoles will return to action Saturday against visiting N.C. State in the teams' regular-season finale. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
----------------------------------------------------
Discuss this with fans on Warchant's Seminole Hoops message board
