Florida State bounced back from its first loss of the year with an 84-60 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, utilizing dominance on the boards to move to 3-1 on the season
The Seminoles opened on a 10-0 run, capped by a Kam Taylor four-point play and a Sebastian Rancik jumper, which forced an early Islanders timeout at the 17:24 mark. FSU stretched it to 12-2 shortly after, but then went more than four minutes without a field goal, its points at the free-throw line managing to keep TAMUCC at a distance.
A Taylor jumper put Florida State up 17-7 at 12:13, but then the Seminoles’ offense stalled again. The Islanders went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 19-14 with nine minutes left in the half. Alex Steen answered, adding four points at the line and on a layup, and Elisee Assui added a pair of free throws to make it 25-16.
TAMUCC hung around, getting within six, but that would be the closest it would get for the rest of the game as FSU finally separated, going on a 6-0 run to push its lead to 35-23 and following that up with a 5-0 run after an Islanders three. FSU was up 40-26, its largest lead of the game at that point, before a late Islanders layup made it 40-28 at the break.
Florida State shot just 11-for-30 (36.7%) from the field and 1-for-11 from three in the first half, but dominated the glass, outrebounding TAMUCC 27-11, with a 12-2 edge on the offensive boards that turned into 11 second-chance points. The Seminoles also went 17-for-24 from the line and scored 10 points off 10 Islanders turnovers.
Florida State came out of the break on a 9-2 run, with Rancik opening it on an and-one in transition, Marcis Ponder adding a tip-in and a dunk and Anthony Robinson II finishing at the rim to push the lead to 49-30 at 17:06. TAMUCC answered with five straight points to cut it to 49-35, but that was as close as the Islanders got for the rest of the matchup.
Taylor followed with a layup and a fast-break dunk, and Steen scored inside to make it 55-37. From there, FSU pulled away at the free-throw line. Robinson hit four straight free throws, then Rancik scored back-to-back buckets with a layup and a dunk to put the Seminoles up 64-41 with 10:52 left.
The lead kept growing even as Florida State’s shooting went cold. After an Abaev dunk in transition made it 71-46 at 8:04, the Seminoles didn’t make another field goal until the final minute. They still scored 10 points at the line in that stretch, though, and a pair of Robinson free throws at 4:35 gave them their largest lead of the night at 77-49. Desmond Kent Jr. scored seven of TAMUCC’s final eight points to make the score a little closer, and Bass hit FSU’s only three of the second half with 44 seconds left for the 84-60 final.
The Seminoles finished just 2-for-21 from three, but the rebounding edge carried them again. Florida State outrebounded TAMUCC 58-25, grabbing 25 offensive rebounds and turning them into 19 second-chance points. FSU also went 36-for-45 (80%) from the line, compared to 9-for-17 for the Islanders, and led for 39:27 of the game.
Rancik led FSU with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Taylor added 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting. Robinson had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, going 8-for-10 from the line. Steen scored 10 points with eight rebounds off the bench, and Ponder had eight points and nine rebounds before fouling out, tying Assui for the team lead.
Next up for FSU is a matchup vs. Ball State next Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.
FSU 84, TAMUCC 60: Final stats
- FG%: FSU 37.1%, TAMUCC 39%
- FSU: 37%
- TAMUCC: 39%
- FG: FSU 23-62, TAMUCC 23-59
- FSU: 23-62
- TAMUCC: 23-59
- 3FG%: FSU 9.5%, TAMUCC 27.8%
- FSU: 10%
- TAMUCC: 28%
- 3FG: FSU 2-21, TAMUCC 5-18
- FSU: 2-21
- TAMUCC: 5-18
- FT%: FSU 80%, TAMUCC 52.9%
- FSU: 80%
- TAMUCC: 53%
- FT: FSU 36-45, TAMUCC 9-17
- FSU: 36-45
- TAMUCC: 9-17
- Turnovers: FSU 14, TAMUCC 14
- FSU: 14
- TAMUCC: 14
- Points off turnovers: FSU 16, TAMUCC 15
- FSU: 16
- TAMUCC: 15
- Total rebounds: FSU 58, TAMUCC 25
- FSU: 58
- TAMUCC: 25
- Defensive rebounds: FSU 33, TAMUCC 17
- FSU: 33
- TAMUCC: 17
- Offensive rebounds: FSU 25, TAMUCC 8
- FSU: 25
- TAMUCC: 8
- Second-chance points: FSU 19, TAMUCC 12
- FSU: 19
- TAMUCC: 12
- Bench points: FSU 26, TAMUCC 44
- FSU: 26
- TAMUCC: 44
- Points in the paint: FSU 38, TAMUCC 22
- FSU: 38
- TAMUCC: 22
- Fast-break points: FSU 15, TAMUCC 6
- FSU: 15
- TAMUCC: 6
- Blocks: FSU 2, TAMUCC 6
- FSU: 2
- TAMUCC: 6
- Steals: FSU 9, TAMUCC 4
- FSU: 9
- TAMUCC: 4
- Assists: FSU 13, TAMUCC 11
- FSU: 13
- TAMUCC: 11
- Time with lead: FSU 39:27, TAMUCC 0:00
- FSU: 39:27
- TAMUCC: 0:00
FSU player stats
- Shon Abaev: 9 points (3-10 FG, 0-4 3FG, 3-4 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 fouls, 4 turnovers, 27 minutes
- Anthony Robinson II: 10 points (1-4 FG, 0-2 3FG, 8-10 FT), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 fouls, 1 turnover, 21 minutes
- Kameron Taylor: 14 points (5-8 FG, 1-3 3FG, 3-3 FT), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 0 fouls, 1 turnover, 25 minutes
- Marcis Ponder: 8 points (2-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 4-6 FT), 9 rebounds, 0 assists, 5 fouls, 2 turnovers, 17 minutes
- Sebastian Rancik: 17 points (7-15 FG, 0-3 3FG, 3-3 FT), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 foul, 1 turnover, 28 minutes
- Martay Barnes: 2 points (0-6 FG, 0-5 3FG, 2-4 FT), 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 foul, 1 turnover, 14 minutes
- Elisee Assui: 6 points (1-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-4 FT), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 foul, 1 turnover, 21 minutes
- Alex Steen: 10 points (2-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 6-6 FT), 8 rebounds, 0 assists, 4 fouls, 1 turnover, 14 minutes
- Brandon Bass Jr.: 8 points (2-5 FG, 1-2 3FG, 3-4 FT), 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 foul, 1 turnover, 17 minutes
- Cooper Schwieger: 0 points (0-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-1 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 0 turnovers, 16 minutes
