GAME NOTES: Looking to end a three-game losing streak, the Florida State Seminoles will take to the road for a matchup with the Clemson Tigers in an Atlantic Coast Conference affair at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Florida State has lost three straight contests and four of its last five altogether, which has dropped the team back to 9-9 on the season. The Seminoles were taken down on Saturday by NC State, 72-63, at home. FSU is now 1-4 against ACC competition.

Clemson improved to 10-7 on the season with a Saturday victory over Syracuse, 66-53. The win was the second in three games for the Tigers, who improved to 7-3 at home and 2-3 in ACC play.

Florida State leads the all-time series against Clemson, 35-29. But the Tigers own a 16-9 advantage at Littlejohn Coliseum, and took the most recent matchup against the Seminoles, 53-49, last season.

Florida State couldn't handle the furious offensive attack of NC State on Saturday. The Wolfpack netted 56.3 percent of their shots from the floor to take a 42-30 lead over the Seminoles as the teams headed into the locker rooms for the intermission. That was all the cushion NC State would need to hang onto the win. FSU finished the game shooting 37.3 percent from the field. Montay Brandon just missed a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Xavier Rathan-Mayes added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Devon Bookert rounded out the team's trio of double-digit scorers with 11 points in the loss.

Florida State misses the scoring prowess of Aaron Thomas (14.8 ppg), who is out indefinitely due to eligibility reasons. Meanwhile Brandon takes over as the team's leading scorer, netting 13.5 ppg for the Seminoles, who as a unit are checking in at 69.2 ppg. Rathan-Mayes (12.4 ppg) and Bookert (10.2 ppg) make up the other two double-digit scorers for Florida State this season. Brandon leads the charge when it comes to rebounding for the Seminoles at 5.7 rpg, and Rathan-Mayes adds in a team-best 76 assists on the season.

It was a poor offensive day for Syracuse on Saturday, which fell to Clemson after a dismal first half shooting the ball. The Orange connected on just 25 percent of their shots from the floor in the opening period, and trailed the Tigers going into halftime, 39-18. Donte Grantham led the scoring charge for Clemson with 16 points, while Jaron Blossomgame added a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Rod Hall also chipped in with 15 points in the victory, adding in a team-high six assists.

Blossomgame headed into the weekend leading the Clemson lineup in scoring, averaging 13.7 ppg. The Tigers as a unit were averaging only 63.3 ppg heading into the weekend, and were giving up 62.4 ppg to opponents. But after Syracuse's 53-point effort, the Tigers' defense when it comes to slowing opponents looks a little bit better at 61.9 ppg surrendered. Demarcus Harrison went into Saturday's clash averaging 10.4 ppg as the only other Clemson player with a double-digit scoring average, but he scored only three points in the win over the Orange.

If the Tigers can keep up a stingy defensive effort like they did against Syracuse, they should have no issues taking down a struggling Florida State team in the comforts of their own home.