Jackson Leads Seminoles Over Georgia Tech, 82-71

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State's Chandler Jackson scored a career-high 14 points and the Seminoles began the new year on a very positive note with an 82-71 win over Georgia Tech at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The Seminoles led for the final 36 minutes of the game, were up by 17 in the second half, and won their ACC home opener by double figures.

Led by Jackson and redshirt junior Jamir Watkins (11 points), each of the 12 Seminoles who played in the game scored and 11 of the 12 players pulled down at least one rebound.

Jackson had a standout game in leading the Seminoles in scoring as he bettered his previous career-high of 10 points. He added two rebounds, two assists, and one steal in the Seminoles' first ACC win of the season.

"We're encouraged by the performance by Chandler (Jackson)," said Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton. "He allowed us to challenge him. I told him I wanted him to be much more aggressive and he responded."

Watkins was the second-leading scorer for the Seminoles. He was perfect from the free throw line (three of three) and had six points from beyond the arc. He tied for the team-lead with five rebounds and added two assists.

Florida State played very much in sync as it shared the basketball which allowed for 82 points scored – the fourth time the Seminoles have scored at least 80 points in a game this season. The Seminoles trailed for the first 91 seconds of the game, and then on a 3-point shot by Darin Green Jr., led for the remainder of the game.

"Tonight, we definitely showed major improvement in many different areas, the offense especially," said Hamilton. "That was a point of emphasis for this game. We got 42 points coming from our bench and that is definitely a sign of us moving in the right direction."

Green Jr. was all about three-pointers tonight as he scored 10 points with six of them coming from beyond the arc. He also contributed to the team with four rebounds, one assist, and two steals.

Jalen Warley had one steal which moved him closer to the 100^th steal of his career. He is four steals shy of reaching 100 for his career. He also scored nine points including his first 3-point shot in the first 13 games of the season, and was perfect from the line (two of two).

"We knew that they were going to pressure us, and we didn't respond as well as we could," said Georgia Tech Head Coach Damon Stoudamire. "They were getting the offensive rebounds; they were the ones being the aggressors, and it makes it harder out there on the floor."

Georgia Tech junior Miles Kelly led the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 20 points with Kowacie Reeves finishing with 18 points.

The Seminoles play host to Virginia Tech on Saturday, January 6 at 4:00 p.m. The game is Military Appreciation Day at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.

Jackson Leads Seminoles Over Georgia Tech, 82-71

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Team Stats

Chandler Jackson

Jamir Watkins

Darin Green Jr.

Primo Spears

Players Mentioned

Darin Green Jr.

Chandler Jackson

Jalen Warley

Jamir Watkins

Florida State University Athletics