CLEMSON, S.C. - Shawan Robinson scored 10 - the only player in double figures - to lead Clemson to a 53-48 victory over Florida State on Tuesday night, giving first-year coach Oliver Purnell his first ACC win.
Clemson (8-6, 1-2) used a late 9-0 run and then survived some poor free-throw shooting to hang on for the victory. Both teams shot poorly from the floor. The Tigers shot 34.8 percent compared with the 37 percent for FSU.
"It was all about defense tonight," Purnell said. "We didn't shoot the ball very well, only 35 percent from the field, and we still turned it over 18 times. But we made defensive plays down the stretch. It was defense all night."
Michael Joiner and Alexander Johnson each scored nine for Florida State, which has lost 17 consecutive conference road games. In its past two, Florida State (12-4, 1-2) has made just 35-of-95 shots from the field.
Robinson barely got to double figures. He had to make a free throw with 32.8 seconds remaining to get 10 points.
Trailing 27-19 at the half, Florida State opened the second half with an 11-2 run to go up 30-29 with 12:44 remaining. Alexander Johnson made two field goals and Adam Waleskowski and Tim Pickett both had 3-pointers during the run.
After Pickett's 3, the Seminoles went cold. They scored just one field goal in the next nine minutes.
Clemson's 9-0 run was led by Robinson's 3-pointer during and Akin Akingbala capped it with a dunk to give the Tigers a 44-33 lead with 4:20 left.
Clemson was 9-of-17 from the line down the stretch to allow the Seminoles to stay in the game.
But Florida State got no closer than 51-48 with 14.4 seconds left.
Clemson forced more turnovers than it committed (20-18) for the first time in 10 games. The Tigers outscored Florida State 23-17 off those turnovers.
"This was an important win for us," Purnell said. "We jumped into the deep end of the pool to start the ACC race. When you start with Duke and Wake Forest, you come back home with an important game. We needed a win to get back into the thick of the race."
The Seminoles made just 6-of-20 3-point attempts. Florida State entered the game shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc, a clip that led the ACC.
Florida State plays at Virginia Sunday before returning home to meet North Carolina Jan. 22.
