TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Five minutes into the second half of Saturday's game Notre Dame coach Mike Brey glance at the scoreboard. He saw his team down 18 points, let out a deep sigh and knew his team was all but finished.

The 23-ranked Fighting Irish never recovered from the slow start and were handed a 77-56 loss by Florida State.

"I was over it at about the 15-minute mark of the second half. Just wasn't feeling it (tonight)," Brey said "And I wasn't feeling it because Florida State was playing really well. They made some tough shots that broke our back."

Florida State (17-12, 7-10 ACC) ended a five-game losing streak as freshman guard Dwayne Bacon scored 21 points. The Seminoles picked up their second victory against a Top 25 team and held Notre Dame to a season-low in points.

"This is a very important victory for us," said Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team had 45 hours to rebound from Thursday's 15-point loss at Duke. "We were able to sustain our energy ... I think this is something like the fourth time this season we've played four games in eight days. But there's no time to be taking bows now. We've still got a lot of work to do (to close out the regular season strong)."

Bacon had 14 points by halftime, scored in double figures for the fourth straight outing and was one of the Seminoles who put in that work before Saturday's game.

"I came to the gym early (Saturday) and got a lot of shots up. I've been shooting it better, so I just feel like maybe I need to get in the gym earlier (before games)," Bacon said. "When we move the ball on offense, we can win any game, beat any team. And we did that perfectly tonight."

Notre Dame (19-9, 10-6) suffered its third straight road loss and likely its chance to secure one of the top four seeds in the ACC Tournament. The Irish, who boast one of the nation's most efficient offenses shot just 35 percent from the floor Saturday, came into the game tied for fourth place with Virginia and Duke with two regular-season games left.

Notre Dame was led by 13 points from guard Demetrius Jackson and got a double-double of 12 points and 17 rebounds from forward Zach Auguste. But they were the only Notre Dame players to score in double digits.

Auguste said the Irish's energy was inexplicably low against a team that was reeling like Florida State.

"We lacked defensive poise. We didn't execute down the stretch. Got to give a lot of credit to them. They were knocking down a lot of shots and playing great basketball," Auguste said. "They were being aggressive and pushing the ball great. They also spread the floor really well, and it was tough for our guys to guard."

Auguste grabbed 17 boards despite an inspiring game by Florida State Boris Bojanovsky, a 7-foot-3 senior The Slovakian was huge on the glass, finishing with eight points, nine rebounds and six blocks.

After Florida State carried a 16-point lead into halftime, backup guard Benji Bell -- who finished with 14 points -- gave the Seminoles a 20-point edge at 57-37 on a 3-pointer with just under 14 minutes to go. Florida State forward Jarquez Smith kept the Donald Tucker Center crowd firmly in the game when he threw down a highlight-reel alley-oop from Bell with just under 10 minutes to play.

Bell then provided a dagger with just under six minutes remaining when he nailed another 3-pointer to put the Seminoles ahead 69-46.

Notre Dame trailed by double digits the entire second half.

"Benji's) a great shooter. He's always hot," Bacon said of Bell, who spelled Seminoles leading scorer, guard Malik Beasley, after Beasley started 1 of 7 from the field and picked up three fouls. "Sometimes, it's not always (the case) where a player comes off the bench and it becomes his time. But tonight? Tonight was his time."

NOTES: Bacon added four rebounds and three assists, and he finished 7 of 11 from the floor, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc ... Florida State has just one game left and closes out its regular season in eight days at home against Syracuse. ... Notre Dame has two regular-season games left, both at home beginning Wednesday against Miami and finishing Saturday against N.C. State. ... Notre Dame came into the game as the third-highest scoring team in the ACC at 77.7 points per game but failed to score more than 70 for the third straight game. ... Florida State's other win against a Top 25 program also came at home when it beat No. 11 Virginia on Jan. 17. ... The Seminoles now lead the all-time series 3-1 ... Florida State got 33 points from its bench in Saturday's win ... Florida State's had been surrendering an average of 80 points a game during its losing streak.