Florida State Seminoles vs NC State Wolfpack Box Score on Feb 22, 2020

Junior guard MJ Walker scored 12 points -- all of them in the second half -- to help eighth-ranked Florida State rally to a 67-61 win over the host NC State Wolfpack Saturday at Raleigh, N.C.

Pat Williams also had 12 points, and Devin Vassell added 11 for the Seminoles (23-4, 13-3 ACC), who have won three straight games and 16 of 18. FSU also had a 15-11 edge on offensive rebounds.

Florida State's Malik Osborne had nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. However, he missed four straight free throws in the final 44 seconds, giving NC State hope.

The Wolfpack (17-10, 8-8), who upset the sixth-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday, led FSU by seven points in the first half but were slow to adjust when the Seminoles switched to a zone defense after intermission.

Junior forward Devon Daniels led NC State with 18 points and nine rebounds. Jericole Hellems, a 6-7 sophomore forward, came off the bench to add 14 points and seven boards.

But starting post man DJ Funderburk, who had 18 points and nine rebounds when his Wolfpack played FSU last year, fouled out with 1:37 left in the second half. Saddled with foul trouble for most of the game, he was held to nine points and four rebounds.

After two lead changes and two tie scores, NC State used a 5-0 run to take a 32-27 lead into halftime. NC State shot 42.3 percent in the first half while holding FSU to 37.0 percent.

"We have to be a lot more aggressive in the second half," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said in a TV interview at the break. "We were just passing the ball around the perimeter."

Walker surely listened to Hamilton. After taking just one shot before intermission, Walker had six quick points in the first three minutes of the second half, helping to give FSU a 36-35 lead.

Funderburk, who had a pair of fouls in the first half, went to the bench with 16:54 left in the second after he was charged with two more personals.

NC State coach Kevin Keatts, upset when FSU was not called for a foul on a drive by Markell Johnson, was hit with a technical. That came with 9:22 left in the second half, and Williams made the two free throws he was awarded, giving FSU its largest lead to that point, 55-48. NC State never quite recovered.

--Field Level Media