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No. 22 Florida State downs Clemson

Mar 4, 2012 - 10:14 PM Tallahassee, FL (Sports Network) - Michael Snaer set a milestone and knocked down five three-pointers en route to a career-high 23 points as No. 22 Florida State downed Clemson, 80-72, on Sunday.

Bernard James had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Xavier Gibson added 13 points and eight boards for the Seminoles (21-9, 12-4 ACC), who won five of their last seven contest to close the season. They will be the third seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

Florida State was 11-of-19 from three-point range.

"When they shoot the ball like they did tonight they are very hard to beat," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said.

K.J. McDaniels had 16 points, eight rebounds (seven on the offensive glass), four steals and two blocks for Clemson (16-14, 8-8), which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

The Seminoles led by 16 at the break, but the Tigers used a 9-0 spurt to pull within seven with 12:42 left. Devin Coleman was responsible for all nine points, scoring seven while recording an assist on Devin Booker's dunk during the stretch.

With 5:25 to play, Snaer became the 43rd player in Florida State history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau. His trey from the right wing made it 69-58 in favor of the Seminoles.

"That's a tremendous accomplishment for a junior," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said.

Clemson, though, stayed within striking distance and McDaniels' dunk and two free throws on back-to-back possessions made it 75-72 with 30 seconds left.

But Snaer made a pair from the line and Luke Loucks stripped Andre Young on Clemson's ensuing possession to put the game away.

A pair of Ian Miller triples, sandwiched around a McDaniels layup gave Florida State its largest lead of the contest and Clemson's biggest deficit all season entering the break, 49-33.

The Seminoles took advantage of the three-point line in the opening 20 minutes. They nailed 8-of-11 from beyond the arc while making 8-of-14 attempts from two-point range. Snaer was a perfect 4-for-4 from long range.

Game Notes

The 49 points allowed by Clemson in the first half was the most allowed in two seasons under Brownell...Clemson held a 17-10 advantage on the offensive glass and forced 18 Florida State turnovers.