Douglas ’ 23 keys Florida St to win over ClemsonTALLAHASSEE , Fla . ( AP ) — Toney Douglas is 6 - foot - 1 and doesn ’ t have a lot of veteran help at No . 23 Florida State . That hasn ’ t kept him from being nearly unstoppable , especially at crunch time . Douglas scored 23 points and Florida State held off a late Clemson rally , defeating the 12 th - ranked Tigers 73 - 66 on Saturday to get closer to their first NCAA tournament bid in 11 years . FSU ' s Chris Singleton gets his shot blocked by Clemson defender Raymond Sykes during Saturday ' s 73 - 66 Seminole victory over the ranked Clemson Tigers inside of a jam packed civic center on February 28 , 2009 . “ I ’ d say we ’ re in , but we have more games too , ” Douglas said afterward . “ I know if we ’ d lost after having an 18 - point lead , I ’ d have cried afterward . ” He has now scored 20 or more points in 11 of Florida State ’ s last 13 Atlantic Coast Conference games and had 19 the other two times . “ He ’ s certainly a player of the year candidate , ” Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said . “ He almost opens up the inside by himself . ” Whether it ’ s slashing to the basket , scoring a 3 - pointer or making a steal , Douglas is arguably the single most disruptive force in the talent - laden Atlantic Coast Conference . “ I don ’ t think there ’ s any other player in our league faced with that type of scenario , ” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said . “ The unique and special thing Toney is giving us is tremendous leadership . ” But Douglas is quick to share credit with his younger teammates . “ They come in with tremendous energy and intensity , ” Douglas said . “ And they ’ ve got good basketball IQ . ” The Seminoles ( 22 - 7 , 9 - 5 ) led 39 - 27 at halftime and opened their largest advantage at 51 - 33 early in the second half , but Clemson closed to within 63 - 60 on five points by Raymond Sykes in a span of just 12 seconds . But then it was Douglas , hitting a half dozen straight free throws to ice the game . “ We got back in it , but it ’ s like being on a high wire , ” Purnell said , lamenting Clemson ’ s 23 turnovers . Clemson ( 22 - 6 , 8 - 6 ) was led by K . C . Rivers 17 points . Trevor Booker was held to eight points , but had 13 rebounds . Derwin Kitchen and freshman Chris Singleton each had 10 points for the Seminoles , who swept Clemson for the first time since the 2000 - 2001 season . Terrence Oglesby added 12 points for Clemson on 4 - of - 10 shooting from 3 - point distance while Sykes finished with 10 points and four blocked shots . Douglas , the ACC ’ s top scorer in conference play , hit six straight free throws in the final 2 : 48 , including four in a row in the final 50 seconds to stop Clemson ’ s comeback . “ He has our back , ” said Singleton , who got all of his points in the second half . “ He steps up his game when we need him and leads by example . ” Booker , the Tigers leading scorer on the season , went scoreless until there was just 1 : 50 left in the half when he hit a close - range scoop shot . Florida State , which rallied from a 19 - point deficit with under 15 minutes left in the game three weeks ago at Clemson to win 65 - 61 , clinched just its second winning ACC record in the past 16 years . The Seminoles capitalized on a 25 - 7 run to build a 14 - point lead in the first half . At halftime , Florida State retired the jersey No . 33 worn by Ron King , who led the Seminoles to the 1972 national title game and still holds the school ’ s single - game scoring record of 46 points . Florida State visits Duke on Tuesday and closes its regular season at home next Sunday against Virginia Tech . Clemson hosts Virginia on Tuesday and finishes next Sunday at Wake Forest . “ We ’ ve got to get back home and take care of business , ” Purnell said . Florida State 73 , Clemson 66 Preview - Box Score - Recap 12 Total ( 12 ) Clemson 273966 Final ( 23 ) Florida St . 393473 Clemson NameMinFG 3 P tFTOffRebAstTOStlBlkPFPts T . Booker 324 - 80 - 00 - 0313041038 R . Sykes 274 - 60 - 02 - 5350214010 K . C . Rivers 336 - 145 - 100 - 0253410317 D . Stitt 312 - 91 - 40 - 013342035 T . Oglesby 244 - 124 - 100 - 0001300312 T . Smith 161 - 50 - 22 - 313331034 A . Young 141 - 11 - 10 - 000301033 D . Potter 132 - 21 - 10 - 025210005 J . Grant 101 - 10 - 00 - 000020032 Totals 20025 - 5812 - 284 - 812341523742166 Percentages : . 431 . 429 . 500 Team Rebounds : 3 Florida St . NameMinFG 3 P tFTOffRebAstTOStlBlkPFPts C . Singleton 203 - 61 - 23 - 4111321310 U . Echefu 172 - 40 - 10 - 005011114 S . Alabi 252 - 20 - 01 - 412211235 D . Kitchen 324 - 91 - 31 - 2242310110 T . Douglas 375 - 144 - 69 - 11133231323 X . Gibson 63 - 30 - 00 - 001010006 J . DeMercy 120 - 30 - 10 - 013110020 L . Loucks 120 - 20 - 10 - 001230020 D . Dulkys 143 - 51 - 30 - 012300017 R . Reid 254 - 80 - 00 - 015310018 Totals 20026 - 567 - 1714 - 218271716851773 Percentages : . 464 . 412 . 667 Team Rebounds : 5 Game Info Technical Fouls : None Attendance : 12 , 100 Officials : Brian Dorsey , Jamie Luckie , Raymond Styons