Skip to main content
Florida State
Join Now

Seminoles overcome ice-cold shooting in first half, race to 89-59 victory

On3 imageby: Corey Clark2 hours agoCorey_Clark

If Luke Loucks coaches at Florida State for the next 20 years, he might not ever have an uglier offensive first half than the one his Seminoles endured on Tuesday night.

But because of a swarming, turnover-producing defense, and then finally some made shots in the second half, it still wound up being another blowout win for the first-year head coach.

Martin Somerville hit four 3-pointers in the second half, Chauncey Wiggins added two, and the Seminoles shook off a horrible first half offensively to beat the Cal-State Bakersfield Roadrunners 89-59.

Florida State, which leads the nation in 3-point field goals and attempts, was an incredible 0-for-15 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes. Wiggins was 0-for 5-by himself. And the Seminoles also had eight turnovers, but they forced 14 from the visitors.

Florida State also was 11-of-13 from the free-throw line, which helped the Seminoles slog their way to a 35-24 lead at halftime.

The Roadrunners actually had an 8-4 lead three minutes into the game but then made just five baskets the rest of the first half as Florida State’s constant pressure defense — sometimes full-court, sometimes half-court trapping — rattled the visitors from Bakersfield for essentially the entire game.

Florida State then took control midway through the second half when Somerville sparked a game-clinching 19-0 run. He hit four 3s during that stretch and scored 14 points as the Seminoles finally — finally — found a flow offensively.

It didn’t last for long. The Seminoles got stuck on 69 points for over three minutes after the 19-0 run and were uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball throughout. But when the dust settled, despite going 0-for-15 from 3 in the first half, despite 17 turnovers, the Seminoles scored 54 points in the second half on their way to the 30-point win.

Wiggins led the way with 17 points. Somerville added 16 off the bench. Alex Steen added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Robert McCray, who missed much of the second half due to foul trouble, finished with 14 points, 4 assists and 7 turnovers.

Florida State had a 40-11 advantage in points off turnovers and wound up forcing 28 from UCSB in the win. The Seminoles went 8-of-17 from 3-point range in the second half to finish 8-of-32 overall.

Cam Miles hit the last 3-pointer of the night for Florida State, then got a technical foul for taunting immediately afterward. The freshman finished with 9 points off the bench and a game-high 7 assists.

Florida State is now 5-1 on the season and will travel to Tampa to take on Texas A&M on Friday.

SIGN UP: Join Warchant’s FSU Community for $1 today

***Talk about this story with passionate Seminoles Basketball fans on the Seminole Hoops***

You may also like