It looked like the Florida State men’s basketball team was going to cruise to its fifth consecutive ACC road win on Wednesday night.

Instead, the Seminoles had to hang on for dear life down the stretch.

No matter, they finished off the Pitt Panthers — barely — thanks to some clutch free throws by Robert McCray V and a perfectly thrown inbounds pass by Lajae Jones to hang on for a 75-74 win at the Peterson Events Center.

”I could feel our fans back in Tallahassee were falling asleep,” FSU head coach Luke Loucks said. “So, we wanted to keep it interesting and make this game as long as possible so we get back home at about 3 a.m.”

It’s the first five-game ACC road winning streak for Florida State since the 1991-’92 season, which was the Seminoles’ first year in the conference. And with the victory, FSU is now 16-14 overall, 9-8 in the ACC and still very much alive for the No. 7 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament.

Two minutes into the second half, it looked like there would be absolutely no drama on Wednesday night.

The Seminoles led 46-30 at the half and then came out and immediately scored the first eight points of the second half — on a driving layup by McCray and back-to-back 3-pointers by Chauncey Wiggins and Jones. To that point, FSU was a remarkable 10-of-16 from 3-point range.

The Seminoles then missed their next 10 shots from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Pitt caught fire. And it very much became a game down the stretch.

The Panthers, led by 18 second-half points from senior Barry Dunning (on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range), just kept on coming at the Seminoles during a furious second-half rally.

”Big credit to Pitt,” Loucks said. “To finish that second half the way they did was truly impressive.”

Pitt cut Florida State’s lead to 67-63 on two Cam Corhen free throws with 5:21 left. Jones pushed the lead to 68-63 on a free throw 14 seconds later. And then for the next four minutes, neither team scored.

Finally, with 52 seconds left, Jones ended the drought with an enormous 3-pointer that gave Florida State a 71-63 lead. Pitt answered with a 3 of its own, but then Wiggins converted a dunk off a pass from freshman Cam Miles, and the Seminoles led by seven with less than 17 seconds left in the game.

Ho hum, right?

Well. No. Wiggins was called for a foul, Pitt hit both free throws, then Miles fumbled a loose ball out of bounds on the ensuing possession, and the Panthers followed with a 3-pointer from Damarco Minor with 11 seconds left to cut the lead to two.

McCray was finally able to get free for an inbounds pass and dribbled off about five seconds before being fouled, and then he calmly knocked down both ends of a one-and-one to give FSU a four-point lead. Pitt, of course, hit a running, circus 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to cut the lead to one, but Jones threw a perfect 50-foot inbounds pass to Thomas Bassong, and the game ended before he was fouled.

Suddenly, the Seminoles were celebrating (while breathing a huge sigh of relief) their fifth straight ACC road win of the season. The only other time that happened, the point guard for Florida State was a kid with the last name of Ward. Also played football.

”We’re obviously very pleased with another road win,” Loucks said. “From where we were to where we are now is awesome to see for our guys.”

Jones and Wiggins both finished with 18 points on Wednesday night to lead the FSU offense. McCray struggled from the floor but still added 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. AJ Swinton added seven first-half points off the bench before leaving the game with a lower-leg injury.

With Wednesday’s victory, Florida State secured a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament. And if the Seminoles can beat SMU at home on Saturday and Miami beats Louisville in Coral Gables, then the Seminoles will be the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament in Charlotte. Otherwise, they’ll be in the 8-9 game.

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