Robert McCray V powers Florida State past Cal in ACC Tournament

Florida State opened the T. Rowe Price ACC Tournament with a dominant performance Wednesday night, beating California 95-89 at the Spectrum Center to advance to Thursday's quarterfinals. The No. 8 seed Seminoles now face No. 1 Duke at 7 p.m. — a rematch of a four-point regular-season loss that this program knows it can compete in.

The win improved Florida State to 18-14 on the season, extending one of the most remarkable in-season turnarounds in recent ACC history. Here are five takeaways from Wednesday night's wire-to-wire statement.

McCray V Delivered the Performance of his Career

Robert McCray V's first career ACC Tournament game looked a lot like his entire season: dominant, relentless, and complete.

The All-ACC point guard delivered 30 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds on 10 of 17 shooting to lead No. 8 seed Florida State past No. 9 California. The Seminoles led wire to wire after halftime, built a lead as large as 22 points, and held on as Cal made a frantic late push to make the final score more respectable.

Magee and Somerville off the bench

Luke Loucks did not have much depth to work with Wednesday. Florida State played eight players total, with Shah Muhammad logging just four minutes. What the Seminoles did have was two bench contributors who delivered at precisely the right moments.

Kobe MaGee went 4 of 8 from three for 13 points in 26 minutes — a perfect 4 for 4 from deep in the first half before Cal made adjustments. His spacing and marksmanship off movement created the paint gaps that McCray V converted repeatedly in the first and second halves.

Martin Somerville was equally important in a different way. The sophomore logged 26 minutes and contributed 7 assists against just 1 turnover, a remarkable distribution line for a player of his experience.

A pattern to watch against Duke

The final score of 95-89 makes this sound like a game in the balance throughout. Down the stretch, FSU was held to zero field goals in the final four minutes of the contest. To be clear: this was not a collapse.

FSU was intelligently protecting a comfortable lead by drawing fouls and managing the clock rather than forcing shots, standard late-game strategy when you are in control. However, the inability to score a field goal in the closing stretch is a film-session talking point before facing the top team in college basketball.

What's Next

Florida State (18-14) will face No. 1 Duke (29-2, 17-1 ACC) on Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m. ET at the Spectrum Center. The Seminoles lost to Duke 91-87 in Tallahassee on Jan. 3.

Duke enters Charlotte as the ACC Tournament's overwhelming favorite, but FSU walks in with McCray V playing the best basketball of his career, MaGee and Somerville both contributing meaningfully off the bench, and the confidence of a program that has won 7 of its last 8 games with a four game winning streak.

Luke Loucks, one year after being introduced at that Tucker Center podium, has his team exactly where he wants it with everything still in front of them.

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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: Robert McCray V Leads FSU basketball past Cal in ACC Tournament