Solomon and Tigers Rout Seminoles, 84-58 |
CLEMSON, SC -- It's getting hard to deny Will Solomon.
With his supporting cast off the injured list at Clemson, Solomon once again got into what his coach Larry Shyatt calls a "zone" Saturday. He scored 33 points to lead the Tigers (9-15 overall, 3-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) to an 84-58 win over Florida State (9-12, 4-6) in front of 8,000 at Littlejohn Coliseum. It will be even harder to deny Solomon his place on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team. Clemson's Terrell McIntyre led the league in scoring last season and didn't make the first team. Shyatt hopes that won't happen this season if Solomon continues to play like he did Saturday. "We've seen it every day in practice," said Shyatt. "He's a very serious player, a very emotional player - at times, too passionate. But when he gets to making his jump shots and feeling that the guy that's guarding him is at a disadvantage, it's hard to stop him." Solomon scored 22 points in the second half against Florida State. He led a 13-2 first half run with a pair of 3-pointers and then was unstoppable late in the game when he hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in a four-minute span. "Getting the rest of their team back helped Clemson, especially when others stepped up and made their shots," said Florida State coach Steve Robinson. "This opened the game up and gave Will Solomon opportunities to take off." Clemson shot 56 percent from the floor, 63 percent in the second half. The Tigers had a 35-23 halftime lead and then went on a 13-1 run early in the half to take a 53-29 lead with 12:50 left in the game. Florida State came back from an 11-point halftime deficit earlier in the year in Tallahassee to defeat Clemson. The Seminoles showed no signs of life after the half Saturday. "At halftime we knew we had 20 minutes to play and that is a lot of time to come back and win," said Robinson. "Clemson stepped up their defense and every time we would make a three, they would answer back with a three. We couldn't knock out their lead early in the half and from there they took off." Florida State has lost its last three games at Clemson by a combined 80 points. The Tigers pulled into a tie for last in the conference with Georgia Tech and within a game of sixth place, shared by FSU and Wake Forest. Solomon, who now averages 21.6 points a game -- over two points a game ahead of Duke's Chris Carrawell, was helped Saturday by forward Adrius Jurkunas (17 points) and center Adam Allenspach (12 points). Freshman Ray Henderson pulled down eight rebounds. "Our frustration is lessening and our defense has stayed put," said Shyatt. "We've found some guys who can make some points when we need them."
FLORIDA ST.
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