Watkins' 19 Leads Florida State Over Wake Forest, 87-82

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Junior Jamir Watkins scored a team-high 19 points on a perfect 11 of 11 shooting from the free throw line and sophomore Baba Miller scored a career-high 14 points to lead Florida State to an 87-82 win over Wake Forest at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The victory over the Deacons was their third consecutive ACC victory and raised the Seminoles to 3-1 in ACC play.

Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton rotated through 11 players with each of them scoring and three players scoring in double digits with Watkins (19 points), Darin Green Jr. (17 points) and Miller (14 points) all in double figures.

The Seminoles outscored Wake Forest in both halves, shot .509 from the field (28 of 55), .538 from the 3-point line (seven of 13) and 80 percent from the free throw line (24 of 30). Florida State totaled 15 assists, 10 steals and five blocked shots as it handed Wake Forest their first loss since November 24 – a span of nine consecutive wins. It was also the first loss in conference play for the Deacons who entered the game at 3-0 in league play.

Watkins' nearly totaled a double-double with his 19 points and a career-high nine assists. His 11 free throws are tied for the eighth most in an ACC game in school history. He became just the third player in school history to finish perfect from the free throw line on at least 11 shots in an ACC game.

Green's night come on seven made field goals – including three from the bonusphere – with five rebounds and a career-high tying five steals.

Miller enjoyed his best scoring game as a Seminoles with 14 points. He played well defensively with three rebounds and three blocked shots.

Miller's exceptional game tonight had him both meet and surpass his career highs in several categories. He created a new high with scoring 14 points and tied his record for free throws made with four and blocked shots with three.

"I thought our execution and decision making along with shooting 53 percent from three and 80 percent from the free throw line shows that our guys are growing," said Hamilton.

The pressure and energy were visible throughout as Florida State won the opening tip and immediately played strong defense against the Deacons. The Seminoles got hot for a little over three minutes at the beginning of the first half going on an unanswered 10-point run. They were also perfect from the line (eight of eight) and led, 42-41 at the intermission.

"I thought Florida State did a really good job of speeding us up on offense the entire game, especially with their aggressiveness, length and switching," said Wake Forest Head Coach Steve Forbes.

In the second half, Florida State went on another major run for five-plus minutes scoring 14 unanswered points. This tied for the season-best run which also came during its win over Georgia Tech on Saturday.

"We played 11 guys tonight and that's a little bit challenging, but that's who we are," said Hamilton. "We want to develop a team that wins games by committee because that's a different style than what most people in ACC play and that works for us."

An impressive Wake Forest team coming in 11-3 was led in scoring by junior guard Cameron Hildreth who scored 25 points for the Demon Deacons along with guard Kevin Miller who scored 21.

"I thought they (Florida State) were the most aggressive team tonight, and I think their team's gotten a lot better," said Forbes. "That's a prime example of play if you play a 31-game season. They're going to be hard to beat and they've got a nice team and congrats to them on the win."

The Seminoles hit the road for the first time in seven games heading north to South Bend, Indiana to face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in the Joyce Center on Saturday, January 13 at 2:15 p.m.

Watkins' 19 Leads Florida State Over Wake Forest, 87-82

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Team Stats

Jamir Watkins

Darin Green Jr.

Baba Miller

Cam Corhen

Players Mentioned

Darin Green Jr.

Baba Miller

Jamir Watkins

Florida State University Athletics