ATLANTA, Ga. - (seminoles.com) — Redshirt junior RaiQuan Gray led No. 16 Florida State with 19 points and eight rebounds in a 76-65 loss to Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion. Gray’s 19 points marked his fifth straight game in double-figure scoring and tied his career-high for points in a game. Gray scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half of the game.
Florida State is now 10-3 overall and 6-2 in ACC play. The Yellow Jackets are now 8-5 and 4-3 in ACC play.
Florida State committed 20 turnovers and shot 42.9 percent from the field. They made just three of 14 from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Seminoles held the Yellow Jackets to 43.9 percent shooting from the field and 29.2 percent from the three.
With six Seminoles pulling down three or more rebounds, Florida State outrebounded the Yellow Jackets by a 37-31 margin. It marked the fifth time in the past six ACC games that Florida State held a rebounding advantage over its opponent.
Florida State trailed 33-26 at half. The Seminoles were led by senior M.J. Walker with five points and sophomore Balsa Koprivica with six rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play. Koprivica pulled down five of those rebounds in the first four minutes of play. The Seminoles’ halftime deficit marked the first time this season the Seminoles trailed at the half.
Freshman Scottie Barnes approached double-figure scoring with nine points and led the team in assists with five. Barnes was three of four on free throws and pulled down three rebounds.
Redshirt junior Wyatt Wilkes knocked down one triple and contributed one steal against Georgia Tech. He now has a career-high of nine steals in a single season.
Florida State’s bench outscored Georgia Tech’s bench by a 22-4 point margin. Junior Sardaar Calhoun scored seven points and remained perfect from the free throw line on the season. Calhoun is now eight of eight from the line.
Gray also led Florida State with three steals and now has 79 career steals in 78 career games. He now joins Walker and Barnes in double-figure scoring average on the season with a career-high 10.2 points per game average and a career-high 6.1 rebounds per game average.
Redshirt junior Malik Osborne finished the night with three rebounds, one steal, and a team-high two blocked. Senior RayQuan Evans contributed five points, five rebounds, and three assists.
Georgia Tech’s Moses Wright scored a game-high 23 points. Guard Jose Alvarado scored 21 points. Michael Devoe also joined his teammates in double-figure scoring with 19 points. Devoe and Wright tied for team-high honors with eight rebounds while Alvarado led with six assists.
No. 16 Florida State will travel to Boston College on Tuesday, February 2 at 9 pm in its second of four straight ACC road games. The game will be aired on ACC Network.
