Robert McCray V racked up 27 points — 18 of them coming after halftime — to help Florida State rally for an 80-72 win over Boston College Tuesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Seminoles (13-13, 6-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed for nearly 31 minutes but ended the game on a 10-2 run over the final 1:49, scoring their final five points at the free-throw line.
On a night where Florida State was handily outshot from 3-point range (45.8% to 33.3%), it won the game from the charity stripe. The Seminoles made a season-high 27 free throws while the Eagles were just 3-of-13 from the free-throw line.
McCray was 9-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from outside the arc, with six rebounds and five assists. Alex Steen added 13 points and eight boards while Lajae Jones chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds for the Seminoles, who have won five of their last six to get back to .500.
While the Eagles were without Donald Hand Jr. (13.8 points per game) for the second straight game, a few Boston College players combined to pick up the slack.
Fred Payne scored 22 with four 3-pointers, Chase Forte and Luka Toews each tallied 14 and Aidan Shaw contributed 10 and a team-high six boards for Boston College (9-17, 2-11), which has lost seven straight games after blowing a 14-point second-half lead.
Boston College started off strong with a 16-0 run to open a 21-8 lead with 11:37 left in the opening half. Payne scored 13 points in the opening 12 minutes, finishing the first half 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from three.
The Seminoles cut into the lead a few times but were never able to claw back into the first half, trailing 42-32 at intermission.
The Eagles were scorching from outside the arc (8 of 12) and 50% from the floor over the opening 20 minutes. The Seminoles, on the other hand, shot 30% in the first half and made just 3 of 17 3-pointers (17.6%).
McCray tallied nine first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting. The rest of the Seminoles were 5-of-24 (20.8%).
Florida State gradually cut into the lead at the free-throw line, scoring seven straight points at the stripe over a two-minute span. After being held at arm’s length, the Seminoles finally broke all the way through with a 19-7 run, tying the game for the first time since 8-8 on a 3-pointer by AJ Swinton with 3:49 left.
Jones’ tip-in a minute later added to the run and gave Florida State a brief lead before the closing salvo.
