Just when things looked lost for the Florida State men's basketball team, the Seminoles put together quite a week.

After beating Georgia Tech 82-71 Wednesday night, FSU kept its momentum going Saturday vs. Virginia Tech. Buoyed by a not-packed but active crowd inside the Tucker Civic Center, the Seminoles (8-6, 2-1 in ACC) beat the Hokies (9-5, 1-2) 77-74, their fourth win in their last five games.

The win looked like it was going to be much easier to come by for the Seminoles than it wound up being. They led by 10 points by 2:19 left before the Hokies went on an 11-1 run to tie the game with 5.9 seconds left.

However, FSU point guard Primo Spears drove the length of the court and was fouled with 1.2 seconds left, hitting both of them to help the Seminoles survive. It was a redemptive moment for Spears, who missed a pair of free throws mere minutes before to help enable VT's game-tying run.

The Seminoles' win was buoyed by 50 second-half points as FSU shot 51.4% from the field over the final 20 minutes.

With his clinching free throws, Spears became the fourth Seminole to reach double-digit points. He finished with 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting. Jaylan Gainey was tied for the team lead with 11 points of his own, nearly doubling his previous season high of six points.

Jamir Watkins and Darin Green Jr. each added 10 points and Baba Miller had perhaps the single-most impactful performance of the game for the Seminoles with eight points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

VT led for much of Saturday's game, holding a 30-27 advantage at halftime which it extended to as many as nine points early in the second half. However, FSU's defense stepped up with quite a stretch of success in the middle of the second half, holding the Hokies scoreless over a stretch of nearly four minutes.

And over that same stretch, the Seminoles went on a 14-0 run to turn a seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead.

While VT got off to a slow start from outside the arc, the Hokies grew into the game and found their footing from the perimeter after the opening few minutes. After a 1 for 6 start from three, the Hokies made 10 of their final 17 threes to finish 11 of 23 (47.8%) from outside the arc.

FSU struggled from outside the arc (3 of 15) but made up for it with 11 offensive rebounds, 42 points in the paint and 41 bench points.

For the second straight time in Tallahassee, VT guards Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor killed the Seminoles. The pair, who hit a combined 15 threes the last time these teams played here, combined for 45 points (26 from Pedulla and 19 from Cattoor) and were a combined 8 of 12 from three-point range.

Up Next

FSU closes out its seven-game homestand early next week with another ACC matchup, this time against Wake Forest (11-3, 3-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.