Whatever head coach Luke Loucks told his team at halftime seemed to do the trick as Florida State men’s basketball (12-13, 5-7) outscored Virginia Tech (17-9, 6-7) 53-27 in the second half, leading to a lopsided 92-69win.
The Seminoles trailed 42-39 at the end of the first half, but found another gear in the second stanza, led by the scoring output of Martin Somerville. The transfer guard scored 18 points in the second half on 7-7 shooting, to cap off a 23-point performance, his most in a Florida
State uniform. Along with Somerville’s scoring, the Noles tightened the screws on the defensive end and held the Hokies to just 27 points on 9-25 shooting in the second half.
Today’s win makes it five victories in seven games for the Seminoles as their season turnaround continues. Loucks’ team is now three games ahead of last place in the ACC with a home game against Boston College on Tuesday, one of the worst teams in the conference. FSU seems destined to make the conference tournament and appears to be a tough out, given how they have been playing over the last month.
1st Half:
Florida State and Virginia Tech came flying out of the gate to begin today’s game, each draining a three on its opening possession. The hot start from three continued for each team as VT started 3-4 from behind the arc and led 17-11 at the under-16 timeout. However, the Noles kept pace, beginning the day 3-6 from three, with Robert McCray V, Martin Somerville and Thomas Bassong knocking one down from deep.
After trading baskets and staying within six points, AJ Swinton drained a corner three to make it a one-possession game with 9:20 left in the first. However, Ben Hammond answered immediately with a three-pointer, his third make of the first, to push the deficit back to six, and FSU trailed 26-22 with 7:57 remaining in the first stanza.
Out of the timeout, Chauncey Wiggins powered inside, dunked it home, and Lajae Jones scored inside the paint on the next two trips down the floor as the Noles started to work the ball inside the paint. Fourteen of FSU’s opening 28 points came from the paint. On the other end of the floor, the Hokies started doing the same and began drawing fouls. McCray V and Jones each had two fouls with 5:30 to go, and VT had eight free throw attempts to zero for Loucks’ team.
Even with the foul trouble, Florida State’s offense continued to hum, and back-to-back threes from Bassong and Swinton tied the game at 34, although Virginia Tech responded with a three of its own on its next trip.
Trailing 37-34 with 3:24 in the half, McCray V cut the deficit to one with a floater in the lane, but a three from the Hokies pushed them back out in front by four. With under a minute to go, FSU turned the ball over, which led to an easy two for VT, but a Wiggins three, his second of the half, brought the Noles within three, 42-39 at the break. Loucks’ team finished the first half 16-32 from the floor and 7-16 from three, although VT also finished 50% from the field.
2nd Half:
A free throw from McCray and a coast-to-coast drive and score from Jones tied the game at 42 with 18:30 in the second half, but a foul put the Hokies on the line shortly after. VT scored five-straight points, but a dunk from Jones, a steal from Swinton, and two free throws from McCray V settled the Seminoles down.
The Noles took their first lead of the game since 19:40 in the first half when Wiggins drained a baseline jumper, putting Florida State up, 50-49. After holding VT scoreless for over 3:00 minutes, Bassong drove and converted at the basket for two before Somerville splashed an elbow jumper, pushing FSU out in front, 54-49. Florida State capped off a 13-0 run with a Somerville triple, giving the Seminoles their largest lead of the game, 57-49. Even though VT scored on their ensuing trip, Jones slammed a dunk home as Loucks’ team started the second half 7-9 from the field.
Leading 60-53 with 11:00 left, Somerville swished a step-back triple, as he tied Jones with the team lead in points with 14, nine coming in the second half. The second-half takeover continued as Somerville dropped another quick five points, running the Seminole lead to 13 with 7:30 to go before Wiggins found the twine on a triple.
Just as impressive as the second-half offense was the intensity on the defensive end of the floor. The Noles held VT scoreless for over 3:00 as Loucks’ team led by 20 points courtesy of a 7-0 run. At one point in the second half, the Hokies were shooting 5-18 from the floor with only six points in the paint.
Florida State led by 22 at the under-4 timeout and salted the game away as Virginia Tech became unglued with fouls and turnovers. The Hokies committed 8 turnovers and 10 fouls in the second half as the Seminoles suffocated them from the floor. There was no late-game drama in this one as FSU recorded their largest ACC win of the season, with a 92-69 road victory over the Hokies.
Takeaways:
- Martin Somerville was the player of the game. The transfer responded from a 0-7 outing against Virginia with his best performance of the season on Saturday. This is what Loucks envisioned when he took Somerville out of the portal as his microwave scoring led his team to victory. Somerville went 7-7 in the second half and scored 23 on the day, to go along with six assists. He captained his team to a 13-0 run at the midway point of the second half, which proved to be the dagger.
- Along with Somerville, the Big 3 for FSU, Robert McCray V, LaJae Jones and Chauncey Wiggins all brought their best and combined for 53 points on 19-40 shooting. McCray V’s dunk at the end of the game became his 1,500th career point in college basketball, an impressive milestone from the CBB veteran.
- Today was about shooting and defense for Florida State. The Seminoles went 12-23 from three-point range, the type of scoring output Loucks believed his team was capable of. On the defensive side, Virginia Tech committed 10 turnovers and only scored six points off turnovers. The win was the perfect encapsulation of how the first-year head coach wants to play.
Up next:
Florida State returns home to take on Boston College on Tuesday at 6 PM. The Eagles have lost six in a row and are most likely not going to make the ACC tournament.
