EditorsNote: Changes to "an" 82-67 victory in lead; corrects halftime score in Graf 7; other minor edits
Patrick Williams scored 16 points, and No. 8 Florida State avenged its season-opening loss to Pittsburgh, producing an 82-67 victory on Tuesday in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida State (22-4, 12-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) improved to 14-0 at home this season. The Seminoles, the only ACC team with a perfect home record, are tied for second with No. 11 Louisville, a half-game behind No. 6 Duke in the conference standings.
Trent Forrest and Anthony Polite had 10 points each for Florida State. Center Balsa Koprivica added seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Au'Diese Toney led Pittsburgh (15-12, 6-10) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Xavier Johnson (12 points), Justin Champagnie (11 points) and Terrell Brown (11 points) all had solid games in the defeat. Johnson and Trey McGowens added five steals apiece.
McGowens, the Panthers' second-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game, shot 0-for-7 from the floor and wound up with just three points.
The Panthers beat the Seminoles 63-61 on Nov. 6, but Pittsburgh has now lost three in a row and six of its past eight games.
The Panthers led by as many as eight points in the first half and trailed only 38-33 at halftime. However, Pittsburgh was blown out in the second half.
A Malik Osborne three-point play and a Devin Vassell 3-pointer keyed an 8-0 run that stretched Florida State's lead to 62-44 with 10:51 remaining.
Florida State outrebounded Pittsburgh 40-27. The Seminoles also amassed a huge edged in bench scoring, 53-15, and points in the paint, 44-28.
The hosts hit 50 percent of their 64 field-goal attempts and made 9 of 22 shots from 3-point range. The Panthers shot 37.5 percent from the floor and sank only 4 of 22 from beyond the arc.
Florida State hits the road to face North Carolina State on Saturday, the same day Pittsburgh plays host to Virginia.
--Field Level Media
