Florida State Men's Basketball falls to 0-2 after 68-54 loss at UCF
In the second game of the year for the Florida State men’s basketball team, UCF dropped the Seminoles to 0-2 on the season with a 68-54 victory in Orlando.
In an out-of-conference battle of in-state teams, FSU trailed by 10 points at halftime, then fell even further behind midway through the second half to eventually fall to the Knights (1-1).
Former UCF star and current Florida State guard Darin Green finished with 17 points off 7-of-14 shooting. Green also recorded two steals and went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc against his former team.
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UCF led by seven points early, but Florida State guards Matthew Cleveland and Caleb Mills then made steals and plays in transition to help FSU cut it back to 25-21 with under nine minutes in the first half.
From there, the Knights used several second-chance opportunities off of offensive rebounds to head into halftime with a 39-29 advantage. UCF finished with an overwhelming 24 offensive rebounds in the game.
Center Naheem McLeod, who started the game but went down in the first half with what appeared to be a lower-body injury, was injured six minutes in and had to be helped off the court. McLeod did not return to action and was seen in a boot on the sideline during the second half.
To start the second half, he was replaced by forward Cameron Corhen, a 6-foot, 10-inch freshman that led the Seminoles in scoring in the first half with 8 points and was a bright spot with 12 points, 2 rebounds and a block.
A layup by Cam’Ron Fletcher, a forward and the fifth starter for FSU on Friday night, cut the lead to 39-31.
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By within minutes, FSU trailed by 15 points, 46-31, and UCF had outgained the ‘Noles in second-chance points by a whopping 15-0 margin
Outside of a few more buckets by Fletcher, who finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds, Florida State struggled to score during a few middle stretches of the second half. UCF attacked the paint and went into a media timeout up 58-41. Mills, Corhen and Green all contributed to an FSU run to cut it to 62-49 with 4:49 left.
Due to injuries and other issues, FSU rolled with an eight-man rotation in the second game of the season, also utilizing freshman Tom House, and sophomore point guard Jalen Warley.
The loss dropped Florida State to 0-2 on the season, on the heels of a season-opening loss to Stetson. In that game, FSU got off to a slow start and trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half before falling to the Hatters, 83-74.
Up next, FSU heads back home for another Monday night game on Nov. 14 versus Troy (ACCNX), ahead of a big home rivalry date against the Florida Gators next Friday on Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. ET (ACCN).
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