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Irish shoot down Seminoles, 77-73, eliminate FSU in ACC semifinals

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Box Score: Notre Dame 77, FSU 73

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The three-pointers went up on both ends, unfortunately for Florida State, they didn't always go down on one.

The Florida State Seminoles failed to match a red-hot shooting Notre Dame Fighting Irish squad as the 'Noles fell, 77-73, in the semifinals of the 2017 ACC Tournament.

"That's just how basketball is sometimes," sophomore Terance Mann said of the Irish's shooting prowess. "They hit tough shots, and we tried to rally back."

From the opening jump, the Irish offense came out blazing, shooting 53.3 percent from beyond the three-point line in the first half, accounting for 24 of 42 first-half points. Inside the arc, it was forward Bonzie Colson who did the damage for Notre Dame with 11 points.

"I feel like we lost to a team that played extremely well," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They hit some really, really tough threes that were very well contested."

FSU, meanwhile, would fail to put together any semblance of offense from downtown, going 0-for-7 from distance in the opening period. The Seminoles (25-8) also produced a paltry 2-to-10 assist-to-turnover ratio.

"We turned the ball over quite a bit," Hamilton said. "I thought we forced some things. I thought in this tournament there were times we didn't play with the confidence we were capable of. We made adjustments at halftime. I thought we came back out and played two good second halves, and we played a good second half tonight."

Photo Credit: USA Today
Photo Credit: USA Today

Signs of another second-half surge for the Seminoles began to emerge as the 'Noles cut the deficit to single digits with 10:22 remaining in the game. Braian Angola-Rodas would lead the way during the comeback effort, shooting 5-for-6 from the floor, including four three-pointers. The 'Noles would cut the lead to four points just before time expired.

"The coaches kept telling me to stay aggressive and my teammates gave me the ball in the right spots to hit some shots," Angola-Rodas said. "After I hit the first one I was like, 'I'm gonna keep it going,' and I was trying to keep us in the game."

Notre Dame (25-8) will face Duke in the ACC tournament finals Saturday night. The Seminoles are now on to the NCAA Tournament. Florida State will find out its seed and destination during Sunday's NCAA Selection Show on CBS.

"It's a good feeling at the same time," Mann said of looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament. "We're about to go somewhere we've never been. As this team, we've never been there. So it should be fun."

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