By Ken Cross
Tallahassee, Fla. – The Florida State Seminoles put together major runs to try to pass the Louisville Cardinals, but FSU couldn’t score in clutch moments of those runs to take the lead. They also couldn’t establish key stops to put pressure on the Louisville offense; thus, the Cardinals topped the Seminoles, 90-76.
High-scoring guard Jamir Watkins led Florida State with 25 points while 6-11 center Malik Ewin added 17 to lead the Seminoles, who shot 53 percent from the field. Louisville’s long-ball threats owned Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals made 15-of-29 from three-point range.
Cardinals guard Reyne Smith led all scorers with 27 points while James Madison transfer Terrence Edwards scored 19 points as four Cardinals hit double figures.
“I thought they did a really good job of playing to their strengths much better than we did,” said Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton. “I thought they did a good job of being patient, spreading the floor, and knowing that we were the No. 1 three-point defensive team in the league.”
After Louisville broke on top 16-5 with 14:11 remaining before halftime, guard Daquan Davis hit a triple in a 10-0 ‘Noles run that cut the lead to 16-15 with 10:48 left.
“They scored 16 points in the first five minutes and scored 18 in the next 15,” said Hamilton. “We made some adjustments and that should not be the case. It’s a bad sign of what you are dealing with when you are digging yourself a hole.”
Florida State drew to within 42-41 early in the second half when Chandler Jackson hit a three-pointer and Ewin added a reverse layup. The Seminoles once again pushed as Watkins hit a three from the top to cut the Louisville lead to 62-58 with 8:58 remaining. That was followed by a pair of threes from Smith as FSU wasn’t able to close the lead to one possession throughout the rest of the game.
“I hope we learn a lot from this game – how you have to prepare yourself going against any opponent,” commented Hamilton. “I think any team in the league is capable of having nights like this and from a defensive standpoint, you have to control this.”
Finding Their Niche: Watkins scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half as he used a litany of offensive skills which led to his threes, but also plays off the dribble and cuts as he was once again a tough matchup for opponents.
“On the offensive end, you have got to be matching the pace that the other team is on and so your defense is not as efficient as they are on the offensive end,” Hamilton said. ” If you are matching in scoring, you sometimes can adjust your defense. Some coaches don’t want to admit it, but sometimes when you are doing well on the offensive end, it motivates your defense.”
Hamilton said that the Seminoles’ lack of consistency has been a tough issue early as FSU hasn’t been in sync for the entirety of a game.
“We haven’t been consistently in sync,” explained Hamilton. “I have been concerned all along but even in the games we win, we are still growing. I think, the kind of team we are this year, we need to have our major role players to make contributions and some times that’s not fair for them when you take into consideration the developmental process.”
Noles Rotation: Hamilton has created a stable roster with which he can rotate nine or ten players as of now. Watkins was joined by Jackson and Bol Bowen as returnees while Hamilton and his staff added quality transfers in Malik Ewin (Ole Miss), Jerry Deng (Hampton), Justin Thomas (Milwaukee), and Bostyn Holt (South Dakota).
Through 11 games, freshman guard Daquan Davis has been a major contributor as the third leading scorer where he averages 23.5 minutes per outing. Center Alier Maluk, guard AJ Swinton, and center Christian Nitu have played solid minutes in the rotation as freshmen.