TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Jonathan Isaac might be 6-foot-10, but he's never considered himself a shot blocker.
That could change after Wednesday night.
The Florida State freshman forward scored a career-high 23 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and swatted a career-high seven shots -- including the game-sealing block in the final seconds -- as the No. 10 Seminoles beat the No. 15 Fighting Irish 83-80 at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Afterward, all Isaac could do was shrug when asked about what came over him on defense Wednesday night.
"I've never had seven blocks (in my entire basketball career)," Isaac said with a smile and a shake of his head. "Never."
He needed every last one in this game.
With the Irish trailing 79-74 and less than 17 seconds left, Notre Dame guard Rex Pflueger drilled a corner 3-pointer under heavy pressure. However, Florida State guard C.J. Walker calmly sank both free throws on the other end to push the lead back to 81-77.
Following a Notre Dame miss, Isaac extended the lead to 83-77 with two free throws, but Irish guard Steve Vasturia drilled a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining to make it 83-80.
Florida State (17-2 overall, 5-1 in the ACC) then turned the ball over on the inbounds play as the Irish tried for a bucket and contact under the basket, but Isaac blocked the ball out of bounds to secure the win.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey joked he was a fan of Isaac's after watching him -- but he also hoped Isaac headed to the NBA sooner rather than later.
"I have a lot of respect for that young man. He should go pro," Brey said with a laugh. "(Florida State) is really good. Their length and defense bothered us."
Notre Dame, which came into the game averaging an NCAA-low nine turnovers a game, doubled that Wednesday and coughed the ball up 18 times. Florida State tallied 11 blocks in the win as well as eight steals -- four coming from guard Terance Mann.
The Seminoles were thumped by No. 9 North Carolina 96-83 Saturday, but rebounded by taking down the conference's lone unbeaten to move back into second place in the ACC standings.
Vasturia did his part with a team-high 18 points for Notre Dame, but it wasn't enough to remain perfect in conference play.
"Give them credit -- they really guarded us well," Vastruia said. "We always think we're still in games with the way we play. We were attacking and getting good looks from 3, but we just didn't get off to a good enough start."
Notre Dame, which made 15 3-pointers in the loss, rallied from an eight-point deficit to take a 60-58 lead with just over seven minutes to play. Florida State mounted a 13-5 run over the next three minutes -- highlighted by eight points from Isaac and an improbable fall-away jumper from guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who led the Seminoles with seven assists.
Rathan-Mayes finished with only eight points, but he was Florida State's closer Wednesday, scoring six of the team's final 15 points.
The Seminoles improved to 13-0 at home this season and have won 16 straight games dating back to last year. The streak started against Notre Dame on Feb. 27, 2016.
The Fighting Irish (16-3, 5-1) had four players score in double figures. Besides Vasturia, guard Matt Farrell added 17 points, forward VJ Beachem notched 14 points, and guard T.J. Gibbs contributed 12.
Notre Dame's accuracy from 3-point range, going 15 of 21 from downtown, almost gave the Irish their first road win against the Seminoles, who now lead the all-time series 4-1 -- including 3-0 in Tallahassee.
"I've never seen anyone make 15 threes period," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said as he scanned the final stats. "It's hard to shoot 71 percent standing all alone in the gym."
Beachem and Vasturia each made four 3-pointers, while Farrell made three and Gibbs drilled two. Forward Bonzie Colson added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
Even so, the Seminoles' depth proved too much.
Florida State guard P.J. Savoy scored 12 points -- all in the first half -- and guard Dwayne Bacon notched 11 points, extending his double-figure scoring streak to 29 games dating back to last season.
The Seminoles also got 10 points and five rebounds from forward Jarquez Smith.
Savoy said every single night, a different Seminole can step up -- and that's what makes this Florida State team so dangerous.
"Everyone has the same mindset (coming into games): It might not be my night -- but to cheer my teammates on if it's theirs," Savoy said. "It was tough (to adapt that mindset) at first, but my coaches and my teammates harp on me to stay ready and when I do some in, just shoot."
Savoy was the man of the hour in the first half as the Seminoles took a 39-33 lead to the break. The sophomore transfer led all scorers early with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. With the game tied at 26-26 with five minutes left before intermission, Savoy went on a personal 9-0 run with two makes from deep, and he was fouled on a 3-pointer, sinking all three foul shots to turn a see-saw contest into a 35-26 Seminoles lead.
The Seminoles had a chance to go up by even more when Brey was called for a technical foul with 31 seconds remaining, but Bacon missed both free throws.
Gibbs led the Irish with 11 points in the first half, which the Irish ended on a scoring drought that stretched 2:10.
Florida State, which started ACC play with five of its first six game against Top 25 teams, finishes its gauntlet when it next hosts No. 12 Louisville on Saturday. They're 4-1 currently during the stretch, and fans have poured into the Tucker Center to support the suddenly top-tier hoops program.
Wednesday night marked the fourth straight game more than 10,000 fans have come to see the Seminoles play. And Hamilton hopes to see the same thing again Saturday.
"They've supported us, and it's nice to give our opponents a little taste of what we get on the road," Hamilton said. "I'm glad we're getting the support that we are. I hope they go home tonight, take some hot tea and lemon -- calm their voices down -- and then be as loud as they can come Saturday. Let's blow the roof off this place."
NOTES:
-- Notre Dame also returns to action Saturday as it heads home to play Syracuse.
-- Only two other programs in NCAA regular-season history have played a stretch of games with six straight Top 25 opponents like Florida State has: Maryland (1992-93) and N.C. State (1979-80). Maryland went 2-4 during its gauntlet, while N.C. State was 0-6.
-- Notre Dame G Steve Vasturia started his 100th straight career game, becoming just the fourth player on school history to hit the century mark for consecutive starts.
-- With six teams ranked in the Top 25, the ACC is the country's top-rated conference in RPI.
