Florida State men roll to second straight blowout win to open season
It’s obviously way too early to make any major judgments, but after two games, this Florida State men’s basketball product looks a whole lot better than last year’s.
The Seminoles improved to 2-0 on the season Monday night with a 94-67 victory over Central Michigan at the Tucker Center. It’s the second straight blowout win for Florida State, which dropped its first four games of the season a year ago — including home losses to Stetson and Troy.
VCU transfer Jamir Watkins led the Seminoles with 19 points, and Darin Green Jr. added 16 as six different FSU players scored in double-figures and 13 scored overall. The Florida State defense also forced 21 turnovers by the Chippewas, who dropped to 0-3 on the year with the 27-point loss.
The Seminoles dominated the first half, racing out to a 13-1 lead before the visitors hit their first shot of the game.
The lead never dipped below double-digits for the rest of the half and wound up being a 50-30 advantage for Florida State at the break. And as is likely to be the case for most of the season, the scoring was balanced for the Seminoles in the first 20 minutes.
Eleven different players got on the court, and eight of them scored. Point guards Chandler Jackson and Jalen Warley were two of the three that didn’t, but they combined for seven assists in the first 20 minutes. Florida State hit 8 of 14 shots from 3-point range and had a total of 15 assists on 20 made field goals as the offense continually got good shots against the Central Michigan zone.
And on defense, aside from racking up 11 fouls — which led to 14 free throws for the Chippewas — the Seminoles were energetic and effective. Central Michigan was just 1 of 8 from 3-point range and had 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
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For the game, Central Michigan wound up shooting just 4 of 19 from 3-point range while the Seminoles knocked down 12 of 28 from behind the arc. The Chippewas did shoot 31 free throws in the loss, but only made 17 of them.
The Seminoles wound up with 23 assists on the night and won the rebounding battle 31-27.
Baba Miller added 11 points, six rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes. All total, 16 different Seminoles took the court on Monday night and nobody played more than 24 minutes.
Florida State plays again on Friday night at Florida.
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