Isaac carries No. 12 FSU to victory over No. 15 Notre Dame

The luck of the Irish wasn't enough for No. 15 Notre Dame to beat No. 12 Florida State on Wednesday night.

The Seminoles defeated the Irish 83-80 in front of 10,535 fans at the Tucker Civic Center, and they did it by making their free throws down the stretch.

Freshmen Jonathan Isaac and C.J. Walker combined to make six straight free throws, and Isaac had two blocks on the final possession to end the game.

"I'm very pleased with the effort tonight," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

"We beat a very good basketball team. A team that I'm sure is going to give a lot of teams problems throughout the remainder of the year."

The Irish did have one thing going for them. They couldn't miss from the perimeter making six of their nine first half attempts, and they didn't cool off in the second half.

The three point shooting kept the Irish in the game in the first half, but the Seminoles led 39-33 going into the break. The three point shooting allowed the Irish to close the gap in the second half.

ND finished making 15 of its 21 attempts from the perimeter.

"That's ridiculous," Isaac said.

"That was crazy. Especially that last one that Pflueger hit. We were contesting. We were jumping to the moon. That's our terminology. They just hit shots.

Notre Dame forgot the golden rule against FSU this season. When No. 5 comes on the court you guard him. The Irish didn't, and P.J. Savoy lit them up for 12 first half points.

It was his three pointers that got the Seminoles going in the first half. The FSU offense was sloppy, but the Seminoles were able to dominate the boards and forced Notre Dame into 13 first half turnovers. They averaged just nine turnovers per game.

Guard Braian Angola-Rodas played just three minutes in the game before leaving with a right foot injury. He did not return to the game, but did return to the bench with a walking boot on.

ND made three of its first five three point attempts in the half, and tied the game at 49 with 12:12 left. The Seminoles made just three of their first 12 field goals in the half.

The Irish used FSU's aggressiveness against itself. Whenever the Seminoles collapsed in help defense they were able to find the open man, who was able to knock down the three.

Despite that, FSU was able to make a run, led by freshman Jonathan Isaac, over the final five minutes of the game to give the Seminoles a 75-70 lead with 1:24 left in the game.

Guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes made clutch shots down the stretch, and the Seminoles were able to hold off the Irish in the final minute.

"Then Mayes, I thought, because he's been in a lot of wins, with his two drives, those were dagger kind of buckets for us," ND coach Mike Brey said.

FSU improves to 17-2 and 5-1 in the ACC. With the win, the Seminoles move into a tie for first place in the ACC along with ND and North Carolina with a 5-1 record in conference play.

Player of the Game

Isaac's day didn't start that well. He had four turnovers in the first five minutes.

It ended about as well as it could have. Isaac finished with a game high 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 blocks. It was his second consecutive double-double.

The two threes that he hit in the second half across from their bench were back breaking threes," Brey said.

"Those are big time pressure shots. I have a lot of respect for that guy. A lot guys can't make them. They can make them in the first half, but can they make them when it's crunch time."

17 of his points came in the second half.

Stats of the Game

19 - ND averaged just nine turnovers coming into the game, but FSU's defense forced 19 in the game. The Seminoles scored 19 points off those turnovers.

39 - FSU's bench came to play once again with 39 points, which was led by Savoy's 12. The Irish got just 18 points from their bench.

11 - FSU altered shots all game, and finished with 11 blocks to just 2 blocks by the Irish.

Up Next

FSU will remain at home and host No. 11 Louisville on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Tucker Civic Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.