Florida State Panhandles Cal

The nighttime action on Day 2 of the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men's Basketball Tournament began with the 8th-seeded Florida State Seminoles (17-14 overall, 10-8 ACC) versus the 9th-seeded California Golden Bears (21-10 overall, 9-9 ACC).

Chris Bell, former Syracuse Orange turned Cal Golden Bear senior forward, was the first to score for either side, dribbling closer to the basket and taking a short-range jumper on the right side to put Cal up early, 2-0. He had four points in the first five minutes and change of this matchup.

At the media timeout that came at the 14:26 mark, the Golden Bears led 11-7.

The Seminoles would flip the script, however, going ahead 17-13 at the 11:41 mark.

Cal would fight back within two, but Florida State continued to heat up on offense, taking a seven-point lead, 22-15, after senior guard Kobe MaGee cashed in from long range with 10:28 left in the opening half.

This lead would blossom out to a 13-point advantage, 28-15, with 8:19 remaining.

The Seminoles' 10-0 scoring run was stopped by a 1-for-2 outing at the charity stripe by Cal senior forward Lee Dort, which made it 28-16 Seminoles.

Back-to-back threes by junior guard Dai Dai Ames would get the Golden Bears' deficit down to single-digits, behind by eight, 30-22.

MaGee would get the Seminoles back to a double-digit advantage with a three on the right side that made it 37-27 'Noles by the three-minute mark.

A shot from beyond the arc by senior guard Lajae Jones with 35.7 seconds on the game clock elevated Florida State to a 14-point lead at the half, 46-32.

Sophomore guard Justin Pippen was the last to score for Cal in the first half, on a layup at the 1:05 mark, and the first to score for Cal in the second half, on a layup at the 19:48 mark that made it 46-34 Florida State.

The Seminoles continued to pour it on, leading by 21, 65-44, at the media timeout that came at the 14:19 mark. Golden Bears' freshman guard Semetri "TT" Carr turned the ball over, and Lajae Jones finished at the rim after the steal to bring up the 65-44 score.

Seven minutes later, Florida State was still ahead by 20, 81-61, over Cal.

A corner three by the 3:40 mark put Bell in double-figures for the night, at 12 points, but the Golden Bears still had a sea to cross after this ripple in the water, down 15, 88-73.

Dort would go 1-for-2 from the line to bring Cal within 11 with 40 seconds to play.

Bell's third made deep shot out of seven tries in the game would come with 28.2 seconds on the game clock, and would result in the Golden Bears getting their deficit to single-digits, down 92-83.

Florida State senior guard Robert McCray, V, would finish the game by going 6-for-8 from the charity stripe, including giving the Seminoles their final three points of the night, as Florida State stayed atop Cal for a 95-89 victory.

The Seminoles will advance to play the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils (29-2 overall, 17-1 ACC) at the same tipoff time (7pm ET) in the ACC Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 12.