Seminoles knock off N.C. State, earn first ACC victory
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Malik Beasley scored 22 points to help Florida State beat North Carolina State 85-78 on Wednesday night in a matchup of winless teams in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Devon Bookert added 18 points for the Seminoles (11-5, 1-3), who led just about all night but still had to keep coming up with some timely baskets to stay in control.
Both teams entered this one at 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time since the 2006-07 season, with each staring at its first 0-4 start in more than a decade.
But Beasley, Bookert and freshman Dwayne Bacon each had key second-half baskets that helped FSU finally break through.
"We weren't really frustrated," said Beasley, who also had nine rebounds. "We just knew what we were capable of. We knew we were almost over the hump and now I feel like we're over it. And our confidence is even better."
Now it's the Wolfpack (10-7, 0-4) still searching for a first league win with a daunting schedule - at No. 5 North Carolina, at No. 20 Pittsburgh, home against No. 9 Duke - looming in the next 10 days.
Abdul-Malik Abu scored a career-high 21 points to go with 13 rebounds and a career-best six assists to lead N.C. State, while Anthony "Cat" Barber - the ACC's leading scorer - finished with 16 points.
N.C. State shot 38 percent and went 7 for 26 (27 percent) from 3-point range, but hung around by making 23 of 32 free throws.
N.C. State made its final push with freshman Maverick Rowan shaking off a game's worth of shooting struggles to bury two straight 3-pointers - one immediately after an FSU turnover - to bring the Wolfpack within 79-76 with 37.9 seconds left.
* Box Score: FSU 85, N.C. State 78
But Xavier Rathan-Mayes answered with two free throws, Rowan and Barber each missed 3s on the ensuing possession and FSU hit its last four free throws to hold on for a road win.
"I think we played a little bit tougher," Bookert said. "We paid attention to detail much more than in previous games.''
Florida State's next game will be at home against No. 13 Virginia at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
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