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  Article by Dan Tortora

  The last time the Syracuse Orange and Florida State Seminoles' men's basketball teams met on a court Syracuse was ending Florida State's 25-game home-winning streak against conference opponents in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), by the score of 63-60.

  In a lot warmer of a climate, as the Orange and Seminoles faced off for this match-up in Central New York with a temperature below 10 degrees fahrenheit outside.

  Florida State got things started with a layup from freshman forward John Butler about a minute into the contest.

  Junior center Jesse Edwards would be the first on the board for the Orange when he went 2-for-2 at the line to tie the game.

  Syracuse's first field goal would come from senior forward Cole Swider.

  The first lead for the Orange would come at the 16:37 mark of the first half when senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim would make the team's first deep shot of the day, bringing the score to 7-4 Orange.

  Less than five minutes into the game, there were four ties and one lead change.

  Syracuse would take command of the lead at the 15:12 mark off of a floater by Buddy Boeheim, which made it 11-9.

  Florida State would go on a 5-0 run, but junior guard Joe Girard, III, would respond with his first field goal, and first points, of the game, connecting from long distance to move Syracuse out to a 23-16 advantage inside eight minutes before the break.

  Down 28-18, the Seminoles went on an 8-0 run, getting within two at the 3:50 mark when redshirt-senior guard Anthony Polite knocked down his deeP take to make it 28-26 Orange.

  Buddy Boeheim would break the Florda State run with a jumper at the 3:26 mark, getting Syracuse out to a 30-26 lead.

  Two late threes, the first by redshirt-senior guard Wyatt Wilkes and the second by redshirt-sophomore guard Caleb Mills, gave the Seminoles a 6-2 run to end the first half down just one, 37-36, with the Orange holding onto the lead from 15:12 through the first half of play.

  Girard ended the first half as the only player on either squad to score in double-figures, with 11 to match his jersey number, playing in 17 of 20 minutes.

  Syracuse would begin the second half as they did the first, with Edwards getting the team's first points and doing it at the charity stripe, this time going 1-for-2 off of a flagrant 1 foul called on junior center Naheem McLeod.

  Seminoles' seniot guard RayQuan Evans' old-fashioned three-point play with 18:34 left in the game gave Florida State their first lead since 4-2 at the 18:04 mark of the first half. 

  The timespan between leads for the Seminoles was 19 minutes and 30 seconds, with their last lead and next lead both coming at the 18-minute mark and some change in both halves.

  Edwards, who was the first to score for either side in the second half as in the first, would go strong inside to tie the game at 47 apiece, but Evans would answer with an immediate three to move Florida State back ahead 50-47.

  Nine of Evans' 11 points in the game at this time had come in the second half.

  The Seminoles opened up the second half 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

  Inside 13 minutes to go in the contest, Florida State was 8-for-12 overall from the field.

  Syracuse would go on an 8-0 run to regain the lead, 60-59, with Edwards inside, followed by Swider for three, and then Buddy Boeheim from deep inside 9:30 to play.

  The Orange would score 10 unanswered points in total before Evans' jumper at the 7:47 mark that made it 62-61 Orange.

  Edwards would dunk it home 14 seconds later to move Syracuse ahead by three with 7:33 remaining.

  Mills made his fourth deep shot of the game for the Seminoles right out of the break (4-for-5) to tie it up at 64.

  Syracuse junior point guard Symir Torrence, who came in at the 14:28 mark of the second half with the Orange down 50-47, aided the Orange to a 64-64 tie.

  Mills ended a drought of 2:03 by both sides with a three, his fifth of the contest, to give Florida State the lead 67-64 with 4:56 remaining.

  Buddy Boeheim would get the Orange withing one, going 2-for-2 at the line, making it 67-66 Seminoles.

  He would respond again, this time at the rim, bringing Syracuse back within a point, 69-68.

  But Wilkes would connect on a corner three to extend Florida State out to a 72-68 advantage inside three minutes to go, with the Seminoles staying hot in the second half, 13-for-23 (56.5%) at the time. With about two minutes to go in the game, Florida State was 70% from three-point range (7-for-10).

  Edwards would go 1-for-2 at the line followed by graduate forward Jimmy Boeheim cleaning up for Edwards on the putback at the rim to bring the Orange within one, 72-71, with 1:06 to play in the game.

  Freshman guard Matthew Cleveland would take off to the rim in transition, followed by Evans' stealing the ball away from Girard and making two free throws to close out Syracuse's chances, repaying the Orange for the loss the Orange handed them at home, defeating Syracuse in Syracuse 76-71.

  Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton played 11, with 10 student-athletes getting at least 10 minutes on the court, and the lone under 10 minutes was Buter with nine.

  Mills led the way for the Seminoles with 19, followed by Evans with 15 and Wilkes with 11.

  Four of Syracuse's seven players in action concluded the game in double-figures, with Buddy Boeheim leading with 18, followed by Swider with 17, Edwards, with 15, and Girard with 11. After being the only player in double-figures for either team in the first half with 11 points, Girard did not score a single point in the second half, with Head Coach Jim Boeheim stating, "He wasn't aggressive, I didn't think" in the second half of play.

  With the victory, the Seminoles get to double-digits in victories at 10-5. They are 4-2 in conference play, winning the last three in the ACC, and four of their last five conference games.

  The loss rolls the Orange back under .500 overall at 8-9, and the exact opposite of the Seminoles in ACC play, at 2-4.