Florida State takes No. 10 Gators to the wire, falls 78-76
GAINESVILLE — Luke Loucks’ first road trip as Florida State men’s basketball coach didn’t end with a victory, but it made quite a strong impression.
The Seminoles led by as many as five points in the second half — on the road against the No. 10 team in the country (and defending national champions) — but ended up falling Tuesday night to the rival Florida Gators, 78-76.
Point guard Robert McCray played a big part in the Florida State effort, scoring the final 16 points for the Seminoles, who fall to 2-1 on the season. McCray led all scorers with 29 points.
Despite giving up an 11-0 run midway through the second half, Florida State was able to come back and make it a game, drawing within one point in the final minute despite being 17.5-point underdogs.
Forward Thomas Haugh led Florida with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Boogie Fland added 18 points.
With Haugh and center Rueben Chinyelu (16 rebounds, 10 points) leading the way, the Gators used their massive size advantage to out-rebound Florida State, 58-36.
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“Florida’s a good team. They imposed their will on us,” Loucks said of the rebound advantage on his post game radio show. “But I was proud of our guys. …These guys believe. These guys believe that they can play against anyone in the country.”
Florida State was plagued by foul trouble as the game wore on, with Lajae Jones picking up his fourth foul midway through the second period, and forward Alex Steen fouling out not much after that.
Kobe Magee added 14 points and nine rebounds for Florida State, and Chauncey Wiggins added 11 points and five boards. Steen finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Next up for FSU is a home game next Tuesday against UT-Martin.
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