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FSU earns home rematch with Tigers

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 4, 2001

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Florida State coach Steve Robinson and Clemson coach Larry Shyatt faced the same question after the Seminoles' 75-63 victory: Can they keep their jobs after another season among the also-rans in the Atlantic Coast Conference?

Saturday's win gave Florida State eighth place and dropped Clemson to its second straight last-place league finish. That means the Seminoles get to wear the home white jerseys when the teams face each other again Thursday in the play-in game at the ACC tournament in Atlanta.

Both coaches dismissed rumors their jobs might be in jeopardy.

"Every year is a make-or-break year. You always want to be on top," said Robinson, whose team finished seventh in the ACC last season. "We are going the right way, it will just be slow. You hope the boosters and administration are behind you."

Shyatt said his future is up to the school's administrators. "They'll do what's best for Clemson," he said.

In a game that meant little, Florida State came out fired up. The Seminoles ended the first half on a 30-9 run, hitting 10 of their last 11 shots. Mike Mathews had all nine of his first-half points during the run, and Florida State led 50-31 at half.

Michael Joiner led Florida State with 14 points, and Mathews added 13.

"I could feel the touch. We wanted to put them away quickly and we did," Mathews said.

Clemson battled back in the second half, cutting the lead to 64-55 on Ray Henderson's free throw with 4:22 left. But a basket by Joiner, then two three-pointers by Delvon Arrington put the Seminoles up 71-55 with 2:56 left.

Clemson managed one more rally, getting baskets by Tomas Nagys and Chris Hobbs, as well as a three-pointer from Tony Stockton to close to within 71-60 with 1:36 left. But Andrew Wilson got a layup with 57.5 seconds left to put the Tigers away.

"Some things just haven't turned out the way we wanted this season," said Hobbs, whose team's only win since Jan. 13 was a 75-65 shocker over then-No. 1 North Carolina.

Tony Stockman scored a game-high 20 for the Tigers. Will Solomon added 11 for Clemson but did not score on 0-for-4 shooting in the second half.

Solomon, who once led the ACC in scoring at nearly 23 points a game, has averaged 10 points in his past four games.

"Your first instinct is to compliment the person guarding him," Shyatt said of Solomon. "But he's taking the same shots he did earlier in the season."

Clemson fell behind 13-4 with 15:24 left in the first half before going on a 18-7 run behind two three-pointers each by Solomon and Stockman to take a 22-20 lead with 9:48 left. Two free throws by Arrington tied the score at 22, and Florida State never trailed again.

The Seminoles shot 58.6 percent in the first half (17-for-29) and 48 (26-for-54) for the game.

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