The losing skid mercifully ends.
Florida State, winless since before Thanksgiving, (6-6, 0-0) needed a “get-right” game and Mississippi Valley State (1-11, 0-0) proved to be exactly what the doctor ordered. The Seminoles scored early and often, putting 54 points on the board in the first half before cruising to a 96-49 victory. All 11 Seminoles who played scored a point, four FSU players finished in double figures, and the ‘Noles never trailed.
First Half
Florida State got out to a 17-7 lead in the opening five and half minutes on the strength of their free throw shooting and turnover creation. Freshman Cam Miles did much of the heavy lifting, going 5-6 from the stripe in the early going and adding a three pointer as well. Miles then hit his second three of the game, which was followed by two more free throws from Alex Steen and the ‘Noles lead grew to 24-7.
The 12-0 run marked a first-half kill shot for FSU, but it wouldn’t be their last. After an MVSU layup finally stopped the bleeding, Florida State exploded for another 12-0 run in less than two minutes that featured five different players scoring a basket. Trailing 36-9, Mississippi Valley State managed a brief spurt of scoring to trim the deficit to 24, at 39-15. But the onslaught quickly resumed and FSU closed the half on a 15-2 run to make the score 54-17 at the break.
Miles led the first half scoring with 11 points in 10 minutes. As a team, Florida State made 16-18 attempts from the free throw line during the opening 20 minutes, while also forcing turnovers on 45% of Delta Devil possessions.
Second Half
In a bit of a role reversal, Florida State came out of the locker room and scored their first three buckets at the rim. Two of them were thunderous dunks by Robert McCray V. But the Delta Devils made it clear they weren’t going to just lay down and let FSU win by 50. After Chauncey Wiggins split a pair at the line to extend the lead to 64-22, Mississippi Valley State went on a 9-2 run to cut the margin to 35 at the under-12 timeout.
The margin hung around 35 for the next four minutes when Miles and A.J. Swinton combined for a 5-0 burst to push it back out to the spread line. Swinton’s shot was a nice three in transition assisted by Robert McCray V who rewarded the wing after Swinton nabbed a steal at the other end. After a pair of Delta Devils free throws, Thomas Bassong and Wiggins combined for a 6-0 Seminoles run, pushing the lead out to 44. Bassong scored three points via a hoop and harm and-1, while Wiggins swished a three from beyond the arc.
The final three minutes featured back-and-forth basketball with both teams just going through the motions.
Box Score and Takeaway
- Chief of the Court – Kind of a tough call, as there wasn’t one specific player who had a sterling performance. But let’s go with Cam Miles. He didn’t the lead the team in any major category (though he did have the most made free throws) and he cooled off a little in the second half. However, the freshman point guard’s energy and intensity early in the game ensured this would not be yet another slow start for the Seminoles. He played with a nice mix of aggression and control, knocked down open shots within the flow of the offense, and set his teammates up for easy baskets of their own. He’s a guy who Coach Loucks is hoping to build a program around and tonight was a nice step in the right direction. For the game Miles posted a stat line of 15 points on 9 shot attempts, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, a steal, and a turnover.
- It wasn’t 40 minutes of beautiful basketball, but Florida State did what they were supposed to do, winning in a laugher. That might not sound like much, but it’s the first time you can make that statement (doing what they were supposed to do) in a month. Is it the start of a trend? I wouldn’t go that far just yet. No disrespect to the Mississippi Valley State program, but that might have been the worst college basketball team I’ve ever seen play live.
Up Next
Florida State will look to make it a winning streak when they square off against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Monday, December 22nd. This is the final tune-up before ACC play begins on December 30th. Tip is set for 7:00pm and FSU will likely be a large favorite.
Robert McCray V might have some extra incentive to play well, as the senior called JU home for the last two seasons.
Category: General Sports
