Beginning a stretch of 7 consecutive home games, Florida State was in desperate need of a jolt of momentum after losing their last three. Instead, the ‘Noles had their worst shooting performance of the season and fell by double digits at home to a so-so SMU team. The 68-57 loss drops the Seminoles to 4-5 on the season that is now spiraling downward.
First Half:
The Seminoles started poorly, giving up an uncontested bucket at the rim and a wide open three, while also having back-to-back shot clock violations in the half court on the offensive side. Trailing 7-4 at the 16:28 mark, Primo Spears checked in for the first time in his FSU career, thanks to a recent court ruling that essentially told the NCAA to go shove it. Spears immediately sparked the ‘Noles, getting two steals and pushing pace to a tempo Ham would prefer. The results were mixed—one turnover and one basket—but it’s still the style of play Florida State will have to play in order to be successful.
The game rolled on, even if the scoring didn’t. Whistles were inconsistent, half court sets were long, and bodies were on the ground more than balls were in the hoop. Finally at the 8:47 mark, Darin Green, Jr. broke a multi-minute scoring drought for both teams with a three-ball to give FSU a 13-11 lead.
With FSU leading 13-12 at the under-8, Coach Hamilton subbed in walk-on Waka Mbatch because several of the ‘Noles scholarship players had two fouls. The Mustangs recognized it and immediately attacked the big man, scoring a quick 4 points—a bona fide scoring run in this game.
Chandler Jackson finally broke the 4 and half minute Seminole scoring drought with a floater in the lane to cut the SMU lead to one with 4:05 left in the half. Unfortunately, ‘Noles forgot to play defense off the make and the Mustangs got a layup to push it right back to three at 18-15. Hamilton then doubled down on the walk-on strategy, pairing Sola Adebisi with Tom House, Spears, Bol Bowen, and Jackson…and SMU went on a lightning fast 5-0 spurt, prompting a timeout from FSU and a subsequent lineup change.
When the horn sounded, FSU headed to the locker room trailing 25-18. The Seminoles shot 7-32 from the field, 1-13 from three, and scored 5 points in the final 8 minutes of the half. Jamir Watkins played six minutes, while De’Ante Green played just seven.
Second Half:
Things went from bad to worse for FSU out of the half. Despite getting open looks, they simply could not make anything beyond a layup. On the other end, SMU wasn’t exactly lighting it up, but the ‘Stangs were getting to the rim and the free throw line enough to slowly add to their lead. With 15:47 left in the game, the SMU lead had grown to 12, 34-22.
By the under-12 media timeout, the Mustangs lead was 43-28 and FSU looked like it didn’t have much interest in attempting a come back. Jaylan Gainey kept battling on the boards and Josh Nickelberry was being a solid pest on the defensive perimeter. But mostly it was just a lot shooting, missing, and fouling.
Finally, with around 10 minutes left the Seminoles seemed to have a lightbulb moment and started attacking the paint aggressively. Jackson led the charge, getting into the paint for a nice floater and then after breaking the defense down off the bounce, kicked it out to a catch-ready Nickelberry for FSU’s third three of the night. This cut the deficit to 11 and it seemed like the Seminoles could perhaps make a run. But the visitors from Dallas kept hitting tough shots and getting to the free throw line to keep FSU at an arm’s length.
A corner three by Jalen Smith with 4:13 to go put the Mustangs up 14 and effectively ended the game.
Only one Seminole, Green, Jr., finished in double figures, as FSU shot a disastrous 19-61 from the field.
SMU didn’t play great, but they did start making some jumpers in the second half and between that and dominating the offensive glass (despite being a much smaller team), it was more than enough to pull away for an easy road win.
Box Score and Takeaways:
- Whatever shooting confidence and swagger this team had to start the year when they scored 94 points in back-to-back games appears to be gone. Players looked hesitant to shoot for long stretches, and then even when given wide open looks that are buried all across the country, FSU put up bricks.
- Hate to be that guy, but with four losses in a row the season sure feels like it’s slipping away. The picture of the team full of smiles while holding up the Sunshine Slam trophy after their gritty win over Colorado feels like it was ages ago.
- Primo Spears’ debut was one he’d probably like to forget. On the plus side, his energy and quick hands on defense was a nice addition. But there’s no way to cover up a 2-14 shooting night.
Looking Ahead:
The ‘Noles take to the court again on Tuesday, December 19th against the North Florida Ospreys. It’s another 8pm tip and will be sure to draw dozens of fans. In theory, North Florida should have a result similar to the Central Michigan and Kennesaw State games. But that FSU team seems to have been left behind in Daytona, so who knows?
