Florida State 71, Pittsburgh 66

[February 24, 2014]  PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Florida State 71, Pittsburgh 66: Okaro White collected 22 points and eight rebounds as the visiting Seminoles knocked off the Panthers.

Ian Miller added 19 points and five assists for Florida State (16-11, 7-8 ACC), which has won two of three to pull within a game of .500 in conference play. Aaron Thomas struggled to 1-of-9 from the field but hit 11 free throws en route to 14 points while Montay Brandon grabbed 12 rebounds for the Seminoles.

Lamar Patterson matched White with 22 points and eight boards as Pittsburgh (20-7, 8-6) suffered its third straight loss. Cameron Wright added 12 points for the Panthers, who are 2-5 in their last seven games.

Florida State shot 54.2 percent from the field in the first half to take a 37-31 lead into the half and never trailed after the break. The Panthers tied it at 42 with just over 12 minutes left but White dunked on back-to-back possessions and Pittsburgh went nearly five minutes without a field goal.

Pittsburgh knotted it at 48 with just under seven minutes left but White hit a pair of free throws to kick off a 7-2 spurt that kept Florida State in control. Patterson’s jumper with just under three minutes left cut it back to a one-possession game but White responded with a 3-pointer and the Seminoles withstood three 3-pointers from Patterson in the final 33 seconds to put it away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh is averaging 60.6 points in its last seven games and has been held below 60 three times in that span. … The Panthers hurt themselves by missing 10 of their 28 free-throw attempts while Florida State went 27-for-31 from the line. … White added three blocks, including swatting away a layup attempt by Wright with just over a minute to play.

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