Looking to snap a three-game losing streak and regain their early-season form, Florida State took on UMass in a neutral-site contest for what should have been a “get-right” game.
It was anything but.
The
Minutemen ran the Seminoles off the floor in the second half, outscoring Luke Loucks’ team 60-48 after the break and scoring 34 points inside the paint in the second stanza en route to a 103-95 defeat for FSU. Florida State led coming out of the half, 47-43, but their offense dried up, the defense had no answer on the interior, and the honeymoon phase appears to be over for Florida State’s first-year head coach.
If there was one bright spot for the Noles, Robert McCray continues to be an offensive force, scoring 21 points with 11 assists, but outside of his impact, Florida State lacks other secondary scorers.
First Half
After a week off, Florida State started rusty, falling behind 8-0 in the opening 90 seconds, before Chauncey Wiggins nailed a three for the first FSU points. That basket seemed to get the Seminole offense into a rhythm as Martin Somerville swished a three and Lajae Jones slammed home a dunk. However, Luke Loucks’ team trailed at the under-16 timeout, 13-10, as the Seminole defense struggled to guard without fouling, as Florida State got whistled three times in the opening four minutes and UMass guard Marcus Banks started 3-3 from deep.
The Minutemen continued to stay hot from the floor, beginning the game 8-13 from the field and 5-6 from deep as UMass pushed back out to a seven-point lead, 21-14. AJ Swinton answered with a three, but at the under-12, Frank Martin’s side led 23-17 with no player on the Seminole roster with more than three points.
As Florida State’s offense slowed down, going without a field goal for over 3:30, UMass continued to stay hot from the outside, and an 8-0 UMass run opened the FSU deficit up to double digits for the first time. Along with their struggle from the field, FSU’s rebounding issues began to rear their head as UMass had almost as many offensive rebounds (5) as the Seminoles had total (7).
A dunk from Shahid Muhammad and a three from Cam Miles took the lid off the Florida State basket, while Florida State held UMass scoreless for three minutes as part of a 7-0 Seminole run to make it a six-point game. Florida State started attacking the paint as the half wore on, and its offense benefited from it as 29 of FSU’s 47 first-half points came from the free-throw line or inside the paint.
Robert McCray’s bank shot plus the foul cut FSU’s deficit to one and capped off a 14-2 Florida State run. McCray is the driver of the Florida State offense, and he finished the half with nine points and seven assists.
After Florida State forced a turnover, the seventh of the half from UMass, Somerville was fouled shooting a three and made all three from the stripe, handing FSU their first lead of the game, 38-36, with 3:13 left in the half. A Kobe MaGee three with 16 seconds left in the first half put Florida State ahead by two possessions, 47-43, as the Noles went into the break seven of their last nine from the field. The Seminoles ended the first half on an extended 26-9 run after trailing 34-21.
Second Half
Florida State began the second half by forcing a turnover before McCray displayed an array of moves to finish at the rim and push his team up six. However, UMass would not go away, and at the under-16 timeout, the Noles led by just two, 55-53, before the Minutemen tied the game two minutes later. A 7-0 UMass run put the Seminoles behind for the first time in the second half as the Minutemen started the second stanza 7-10 from inside the arc, and the Noles committed six fouls in the first seven minutes.
The game turned into a track meet around the 13:00-minute mark of the second half, as neither team could keep the other outside of the paint. UMass scored 26 points in the opening nine minutes of the second half, with 20 of them coming inside the paint, and 14 of FSU’s first 17 points in the second came inside the paint.
Trailing 71-64 with 10 minutes to play, Thomas Bassong nailed a corner three, but the Seminoles could not stop the bleeding on the defensive side, as the Minutemen continued to pound the paint to the tune of 13-17 inside the arc. After a UMass three, Bassong answered with a layup before McCray drove inside and finished at the rim to trim the deficit to five, 76-71.
However, a dunk and three pushed UMass back ahead by eight and forced Loucks to call a timeout with 7:37 left. As the second half wore on, the Minutemen did an excellent job getting inside and then kicking the ball out to shooters against FSU’s collapsed defense.
Out of the timeout, FSU missed two straight threes, retrieved both their rebounds, but turned the ball over. The Noles got to the line in their next two possessions, but without any interior defense, it did not matter, and UMass led by nine, 85-76, with five minutes to go.
Florida State went down by double-digits for the first time in the second half after a technical foul was assessed to Lajae Jones, and what should have been a UMass shot-clock violation, turned into a five-point UMass trip. Jones tackled Dimitri Clerc at the end of UMass’ possession in a clear frustration foul, sending the Minutemen to the line for two shots and regaining possession. After the foul shots, UMass drained a three, FSU turned the ball over, and the Minutemen drained another triple to cap off an 8-0 run that put the Seminoles behind 93-76 with four minutes to play.
Florida State attempted a comeback, scoring 12 points in two minutes to make it a 10-point game, 99-89, with 80 seconds to go. The Noles continued to press down the pedal and made it a six-point game with 13 seconds left after a 6-0 run, but UMass salted the game away from the line, and FSU’s comeback bid fell and dropped their fourth-straight game, 103-95.
Box score and Takeaways
- Florida State cannot solve its size issues during the season and this campaign will be lost because of it. UMass constantly pounded the ball inside, attacked the glass, and faced little resistance. Loucks has tried a whole host of lineups, but none of the bigs on the roster appear to be up to the task of being an interior presence on the defense side. The Seminoles have allowed 95 points or more in three of their last four games and the defense does not appear to be close to solving its issues.
- On the offensive side, the Noles remain too loyal to the three, and the offense cannot maintain any consistency. The Noles went 6-23 from three in the second half, after scoring the majority of their points in the first half either inside the paint or at the free-throw line. While the team’s shooting ability can keep them in any game, they are now shooting their way out of contests by not taking what defenses are giving them.
- Part of the reason for the FSU offense’s lack of three-point success stems from its lack of creators. McCray racked up 11 assists, and nobody else on the roster finished with more than two. It feels strange to say but Florida State scored 95 points tonight in a disjointed performance.
Up Next
Florida State continues its run of play away from home as the Seminoles head north for a road matchup against Dayton on Tuesday. The Flyers are 7-3 heading into their game against North Florida tonight.
