FSU takes care of business against Cal in ACC Tournament opener, sets up date with Duke

· Yahoo Sports

Mar 11, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Florida State Seminoles forward Chauncey Wiggins (7) makes a slam dunk against the California Golden Bears during the first half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Florida State men’s basketball (18-14, 11-8) took the lead from Cal (21-11, 9-10) in the opening five minutes of the game and never looked back, leading to a convincing 95-89 win in the opening game of the ACC Tournament for the Seminoles. FSU led by as many as 22 points in the second half and never let the Golden Bears make a credible threat to mount a comeback, although the final few minutes of the second half could have been smoother.

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As usual, Robert McCray V led the line for the Noles, going for 30 points with eight assists, but it was his timeliness that stood out most. Whenever Cal seemed to be making a push or the Nole offense slowed, the ball found #6, and he put the game back in his control. The best example was in the second half, as Cal scored five quick points to try and cut down their 20-point deficit, but McCray answered with seven-straight points of his own, including a windmill dunk and a step-back three.

Alongside McCray, Martin Somerville, and Kobe Magee put together some of their best work in a Florida State uniform. Magee canned four threes in the first half and Somerville dished out seven assists, providing a second wave of offense behind FSU’s star, McCray V.

First Half

Florida State started the game ice cold from the floor, and needed Robert McCray V to generate any offense. FSU started 0-5 from behind the arc, including some wide-open misses, and found themselves down 9-2 after four minutes before McCay V splashed a three and sunk a fadeaway jumper to make it an 11-7 game at the under-16 timeout.

Out of the break, Kobe Magee rattled home a three, and McCray V found himself inside the paint and floated home a runner to pull within one. As the offense found its legs, the defense turned up the heat and turned Cal over on three-straight possessions. Magee capped an 8-0 Seminole run with a corner three off a pin down to put Luke Loucks’ team in front for the first time. After the two sides traded baskets, Magee splashed his third three of the half, as the Noles went up, 22-15, forcing the Golden Bears to take a timeout. During FSU’s 15-2 run, Magee and McCray combined for 13 of the 15 points.

But the barrage did not stop. The Noles went on an 11-0 sprint as part of an extended 21-2 run, with only Alex Steen, Magee and McCray scoring points as FSU pulled ahead, 28-15. Cal finally stopped the bleeding with a free throw, snapping a 3:31 scoreless drought, and back-to-back threes from the Golden Bears brought the Seminole lead back to single digits.

Ahead 34-25 with 3:32 left in the first half, Magee answered a Cal transition two with another three, this time from the wing, to put FSU back up by double digits. After the two teams traded baskets, McCray drained a triple off an incredible offensive possession, pushing the Noles back ahead, 42-29. With less than a minute to go, Luke Loucks called a timeout and got Lajae Jones an in-rhythm three from the top of the key, which he swished, capping off Florida State’s strong first half as the Seminoles led 46-32 at the break.

There were two keys to FSU’s opening 20 minutes: three-point shooting and turnovers. The Noles went 7-14 from beyond the arc in the opening stanza after beginning the game 0-5. Loucks’ team also turned Cal over eight times in the first half, leading to 12 points off turnovers, and Florida State impressively did not commit one turnover.

Second Half

Florida State’s lead stayed around 14 points at the beginning of the half, but the foul trouble started to become a concern as Wiggins picked up his third foul with 17:35 left in the second. However, even with the big man out, FSU started to pull away. A beautiful drop pass from McCray before a three from Martin Somerville made it a 17-point lead, the largest of the night. That mark did not last long as Jones cashed in from beyond the arc off a pretty feed from Somerville as the Seminoles led 59-41 at the under-16 timeout.

A foul on Cal during the three-point make put the ball back in the Noles’ hands, and after Bassong finished an offensive rebound, Florida State led by 20 due to a five-point possession. Although a three from the Golden Bears tried to give them a foothold, Jones hammered a dunk and put his defender on a poster as the momentum continued to stay on the side of Garnet and Gold.

Cal called its second timeout of the game, trailing 65-44, and scored five quick points out of the break, but the Golden Bears started to lose their cool. Head coach Mark Madsen was called for a technical foul after Lee Dort picked up his fourth foul. With the extra possession, Wiggins backed his way to the basket and picked up two points, plus the foul, but taunted his opponent and earned a technical foul of his own.

Florida State took a 72-50 lead into the under-12 timeout as McCray bottomed a three on an assist from Somerville, his sixth of the night. But after the break, the Golden Bears pushed. Cal scored five points on two possessions and then forced a Seminole turnover on an inbounds pass. But as usual, McCray calmed the game down for his team and scored back-to-back baskets, including a windmill dunk to regain control. The senior point guard polished his master piece with a step-back triple, running his total to 24 on the night.

Wiggins’ three with Jones, McCray and Steen on the bench helped maintain the Seminole advantage as Loucks tried to steal a couple of minutes with a quarterfinal looming. A dunk from Bassong, the seventh of the game continued to salt the game away as the Seminoles led 88-70 with just over four minutes to go.

The only concern for Florida State late in the game was McCray rolling his ankle with 3:30 to go, at which Loucks promptly pulled him from the game, though as Cal tried to make one final push and cut the lead to 13, McCray came back to salt away the final two minutes. The Golden Bears went on a 10-2 run as the Noles did not look clean closing tonight’s game out, but that was about the only blemish from this performance, as Florida State was clearly the better side, winning 95-89.

FSU beats Cal: 3 Takeaways

  1. There is not much more that needs to be said about Robert McCray V, outside of the fact that he probably deserved more than All-ACC Third-Team. The senior point guard controlled all nine players whenever he was on the court tonight with an efficient 30 points on 10-17 shooting, including 4-7 from behind the arc. McCray played 33 minutes tonight, a touch lower than normal, mostly due to the scoreline, and told Molly McGrath in their postgame interview that his foot was “fine.” He will almost certainly go the distance against Duke tomorrow.
  2. The numbers offensively for Cal look much better than they actually were, as the Seminole defense played quite well against a high-powered offense for the opening 35 minutes of the game. The Golden Bears had more turnovers (12) than assists (11) compared to 19 assists and six turnovers from Florida State as Loucks’ team played a much cleaner game.
  3. Along with the turnovers, the three-point shot made the difference in this one as FSU had four players drain multiple threes as part of a 13-28 night from deep as a team. Conversely, Cal went 11-27 from three-point range, with two of those coming in garbage time as the Golden Bears could not generate consistent offense.

Up Next:

A daunting task awaits as Florida State takes on Duke in the ACC tournament quarterfinal at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday (ESPN/ESPN2). The Blue Devils are down two starters, and the Noles only lost by four points in their previous meeting, but nobody outside of Tallahassee will be giving Loucks’ team a shot in this one.

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