FSU men roll to 78-69 win over Temple, improve to 5-1 on season

Florida State Sports Information Release:

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Junior Malique Ewin scored a career-high 15 points and added a career-high nine rebounds, and senior Jamir Watkins scored 19 points to lead Florida State to a 78-69 win over Temple in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Ewin scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half as the Seminoles took the lead in the first half and extended their lead to as much as 15 in the second half in upping their early season record to 5-1.

Florida State trailed for much of the first half before a 25-12 run in the final 9:21 of the first half allowed the Seminoles to take their first lead on 3-point shot by Jerry Deng with 5:26 remaining before halftime. Deng’s long range shot gave Florida State a 27-26 lead; the Seminoles outscored the Owls by a 12-7 margin the during the remainder of the first half and led 39-33 at the intermission.

Florida State outscored Temple by a 39-36 mark in the second half to gain the victory.

Ewin was named the MVP of the Seminoles’ second consecutive victory. He made seven of 10 field goals, one of two free throws and totaled a game-high nine rebounds. The junior scored 15 of the Seminoles’ 39 second half points.

Watkins tallied 19 points, reaching double digits with a free throw at the 18:07 mark of the second half. He, too, played well in the second half with 11 points on nine of 10 made free throws. Watkins also added four rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots, and one steal. He has earned at least one steal in 21 consecutive games dating to January 23, 2024.

Watkins played in his 100^th career game against the Owls.

Watkins and Ewin keyed a balanced offensive attack for the Seminoles. Junior Chandler Jackson scored 10 points (with six coming in the second half), freshman Daquan Davis totaled eight, and Deng scored seven. For Florida State, 10 of the 11 players who earned playing time against the Owls entered their names into the scoring column.

Florida State also played well defensively against the Owls who entered the game averaging 80.5 points scored per game. The Seminoles held their opponents from Philadelphia to more than 11 points below their season average.

Defensively, the Seminoles outrebounded the Owls by a 39-34 margin, totaled nine steals, six blocked shots, and held Temple below 40 percent shooting from the field. Florida State’s perimeter defense limited Temple to just five made 3-point shots and a .238 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

Junior Taylor Bol Bowen anchored the defense with three blocked shots, while Davis and senior Justin Thomas both recorded two steals.

For Temple, Jamal Mashburn Jr. led all scorers with 29 points, while Zion Stanford added 15 points to temples 69 points scored.

Florida State plays its second game of the Basketball Tip-Off against UMass on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

The Seminoles return home Tuesday night and play host to Western Carolina in a game scheduled to begin at 7:00. The game was originally scheduled to be played as a neutral site game at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

Florida State’s administration worked with the Catamounts’ administration to move the game to the Donald L. Tucker Center and will play it as a home game for the Seminoles. Proceeds from the game will go to The MANNA FoodBank in Asheville which lost its facility due to Hurricane Helene.

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