Hot shooting start leads FSU men’s basketball past Temple

Hot shooting start leads FSU men’s basketball past Temple

Leonard Hamilton has spoken a few times this season about his confidence in the shooting ability of this year’s Florida State team even if the results hadn’t yet backed it up.

The first half of their opening game in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Uncasville, Conn. proved Hamilton may be onto something. Then the second half showed this team may still be subject to some hot and cold shooting stretches.

Despite that shooting fall-off after halftime, FSU (5-1) played well enough in the second half to come away with a 78-69 win over Temple (3-2) at Mohegan Sun Arena Friday night.

After FSU missed three of its first four three-pointers, the Seminoles rattled off five straight three-pointers, helping turn an early seven-point deficit into a six-point halftime lead. FSU finished the first half 6 of 10 (60%) from three-point range and 57.7% from the floor.

In the second half, FSU was just 1 of 9 (11.1%) from outside the arc. That resulted in a 36.8% three-point percentage in the win.

After finishing the first half strongly, the Seminoles did well to keep the Owls at arm’s length for the entirety of the second half. Temple never managed to cut the FSU lead to less than six points in the second half.

With the win Friday night, FSU is 5-1 for the first time since the 2021-22 season.

Newcomers keep making an impact

Jamir Watkins is always going to be the heartbeat of this FSU basketball team. And he certainly was in the win over Temple, amassing a team-high 19 points.

But a big part of the Seminoles’ success early this season is because so many new faces have hit the ground running stepping into significant roles in the rotation.

Junior-college forward transfer Malique Ewin sat some due to foul trouble in Friday’s game, but still managed to score 15 points (his third straight game in double figures) and nab five rebounds, both season highs. He had four of the team’s 13 offensive rebounds in the win which set up 16…

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Author : The Osceola

Publish date : 2024-11-23 00:27:00

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