Seminoles hand Hofstra first loss, improve to 4-1 with 79-61 win
Fresh off a disappointing home loss on Friday night to rival Florida, the Florida State men’s basketball team got off to a fast start Tuesday night and rolled to its most impressive victory of the young season.
The Seminoles led from virtually wire to wire and cruised to a 79-61 win against visiting Hofstra. The win improves Florida State’s record to 4-1, while the previously unbeaten Pride fall to 4-1.
“I thought we started the game off with a lot of aggressiveness, with a lot of energy,” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. “We were able to be somewhat disruptive, got some easy baskets, got off to a good start.”
Senior guard Jamir Watkins led FSU with 17 points and 6 rebounds, but the Seminoles once again did their damage with extremely balanced scoring. Nine different Florida State players scored at least five points.
Florida State also did a very good job of taking Hofstra out of its rhythm offensively, recording 14 steals and scoring 23 points off of turnovers. And the Seminoles also cashed in with 15 second-chance points by grabbing 10 offensive rebounds.
“We got a lot of deflections and steals and created some points off of their turnovers,” Hamilton said, adding that he was much happier with FSU’s free-throw and 3-point shooting in this game.
The Seminoles connected on 18 of 23 attempts from the free-throw line and 9 of 26 shots from long range. In their loss to the rival Gators, FSU’s players hit just 13 of 21 shots from the charity stripe.
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Along with Watkins, FSU got 13 points and 6 rebounds from center Malique Ewin and 10 points from forward Taylor Bol Bowen.
Florida State took a 32-23 lead into halftime, but Hofstra came roaring back to start the second half with a 14-7 run that made it a two-point game. The Seminoles quickly pushed their advantage back to 10, and the Pride really never threatened the rest of the way.
Florida State next will travel to Connecticut for a pair of games in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off. The Seminoles’ first game will be Friday at 5 p.m. against Temple.
BOX SCORE: FSU 79, Hofstra 61
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