NOTRE DAME, Ind. (seminoles.com) — Freshman Scottie Barnes matched his career-high and had a team-high of 17 points and was one rebound shy of his first career double-double as No. 11 Florida State fell to Notre Dame in their last regular season game by an 83-73 margin. Redshirt junior RaiQuan Gray scored in double figures for the 12th consecutive game with 15 points and grabbed his fourth career double-double with 10 rebounds.
Florida State is now 15-5 (11-4 in the ACC) and Notre Dame is 10-16 (7-11 in the ACC).
The Seminoles were unable to grab a lead and were trailing by as many as 20 points in the first half. Going into the locker room at halftime to regroup, Florida State was down 47-31 but was able to cut the deficit to 74-70 with 2:30 remaining after a 3-point shot by redshirt junior Anthony Polite.
Polite contributed eight points and six rebounds for the Seminoles. With one shot from beyond the arc, Polite has made at least one 3-point field goal in 17 consecutive games since a victory over Boston College on March 7, 2020.
Gray was four of nine shooting and a perfect seven of seven from the line against the Irish. In the past seven games, Gray is shooting 30 of 35 from the free throw line (.857). The redshirt junior also had two steals and has 15 steals in the last nine games for a 1.7 steals per game average. He has earned multiple steals in six of the last eight games and needs only 10 more to reach 100 steals for his career.
Barnes was seven of 10 (.700) shooting for the Seminoles and led the team in steals with three. The freshman has totaled ten games with multiple steals this season.
Junior Sardaar Calhoun also scored in double figures with 12 points and maintains his shooting percentage of .444 from the 3-point line in his first season as a Seminole.
Concluding the four Seminoles in double-figure scoring, senior M.J. Walker ended the night with 12 points and two assists. Walker needs five more points to move into 44th place in scoring in school history with 1,039 points.
On senior night in South Bend, Indiana, five players for Notre Dame scored in double-figures. Junior Prentiss Hubb led the team with 22 points and five assists while senior Juwan Durham led with nine rebounds. Senior Nikola Djogo scored a career-high 11 points in his last career regular season game at Notre Dame.
While the Seminoles are no longer in control of their second consecutive ACC regular-season championship destiny, they still have a chance if Louisville can beat No. 21 Virginia at 4 pm ET this afternoon.
After earning a coveted double-bye for the third consecutive season, No. 11 Florida State will begin their post-season play in the ACC Tournament next week in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Seminoles’ first game will be on Thursday, March 11 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
