Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Florida State Seminoles Match Player Stats On Mar 02, 2022

John Butler scored career bests with 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks to lead Florida State to a 74-70 victory over Notre Dame in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Wednesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.

Butler was at the forefront of a sharp-shooting performance by the Seminoles (16-13, 9-10 ACC), who won their second consecutive game after having lost eight of nine games. They guaranteed themselves a first-round bye in next week's ACC tournament with the win.

The Fighting Irish (21-9, 14-5) lost for the second time in four games and fell into a tie for second place in the conference with North Carolina.

The Seminoles hit their first five three-point shots -- three of which were made by Butler -- and shot 12 for 29 from long distance for the game.

Trailing 44-39 at halftime, Florida State used an 11-2 run to take a five-point lead with 15:10 left and maintained it for the remainder of the contest despite Notre Dame pulling to within a point multiple times.

Blake Wesley led the Irish with 21 points and six rebounds while Paul Atkinson Jr. had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Prentiss Hubb also had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Florida State's Anthony Polite played for the first time since Feb. 2 after dealing with a wrist injury over the past month.

Polite hit a huge three-pointer with 46.8 seconds remaining to put Florida State ahead 72-67. Atkinson answered, however, with a three-point play to cut the Irish's deficit to two.

RayQuan Evans missed a short-range jumper on the ensuing possession but Florida State retained possession after a loose ball was knocked out of bounds with 11 seconds left.

Evans proceeded to hit both free throws with 9.7 seconds remaining. Wesley drove to the basket but was blocked by Butler as time expired.

Three Florida State players -- Polite, Evans and Tanor Ngom -- each finished with 12 points. Evans also had seven rebounds and five assists and the Seminoles blocked eight shots overall. Matthew Cleveland, who hit the buzzer beater to beat Virginia this past Saturday, missed the game due to an illness.

--Field Level Media