Jaron Pierre Jr., SMU thwart Florida State’s comeback attempt

Jaron Pierre Jr. exploded for 28 points to help SMU hold off a pesky Florida State squad for an 83-80 win Saturday afternoon in Dallas.

Pierre scored 17 points in the final 8:46 to lead the Mustangs (15-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) to the victory after a back-and-forth game which saw 12 lead changes and 10 ties.

B.J. Edwards tallied 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while leading scorer Boopie Miller was held to 11 on 3-of-12 shooting.

Robert McCray V scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half for the Seminoles (8-12, 1-6), adding nine assists and two steals. Lajae Jones notched his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Alex Steen added 14 points and nine boards. Jones (four) and Martin Somerville (three) combined for seven of Florida State's 10 made 3-pointers.

After trailing by 12 points at halftime, McCray spurred a 16-2 Florida State run to take a 50-49 lead with 15:08 left, accounting for seven of the points himself and assisting on two of the other baskets.

The teams then traded quick 7-0 runs, starting a stretch where neither team led by more than three points the remainder of the second half until an Edwards steal set Pierre up for a fastbreak dunk which made it 76-72 SMU with 2:28 left.

The Seminoles cut it to a one-score game three times but were never able to level the game again, turning it over on a held ball on their final possession.

Florida State shot 55.9 percent from the floor and 50 percent from outside the arc in the second half, but SMU had better percentages from the floor (44.4) and 3-point range (33.3) over the entire game.

After the Mustangs jumped out to an 8-0 lead, the Seminoles awakened with a 16-5 run to take a 20-17 lead with 9:40 left in the first half.

SMU ended the first half comfortably on top, though, after going on a 19-5 in a span of less than four minutes to jump ahead 42-29 with 2:16 left.

The Mustangs made 5 of 7 threes during the run, finishing the half 8-of-23 from 3-point range to pave the way to a 46-34 halftime advantage.

Florida State made 3 of 18 shots from beyond the arc (16.7 percent) and was 29.7 percent from the floor over the opening 20 minutes.

Edwards led all scorers with 13 first-half points, including three 3-pointers, while Somerville led the Seminoles with 10.