Florida State continuing early season evolution in Orange Bowl Classic victory
SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida State men's basketball team remains a work in progress 11 games into the season, but Saturday afternoon's 75-62 victory over South Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic at BB&T Center offered a glimpse into its potential.
Junior guard Aaron Thomas, Florida State's top scorer, is ineligible for the remainder of 2014-15.
Junior guard Devon Bookert, who led the Seminoles with 22 points Saturday, had missed time with a broken bone in his foot.
Graduate center Kiel Turpin continues to shake off rust after being granted a sixth year following a leg injury in 2013-14.
Of the 12 players who took the court Saturday, six are either freshmen or sophomores. With young talent comes inexperience.
"Our team is evolving right now," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We have been inconsistent. We challenged our big guys to be more assertive. They wanted to go inside -- that was their gameplan -- and we wanted to be assertive. I think tonight was one of those nights."
Six players stand at least 6-foot-8, including three guys at least 7-foot tall. Despite that, the Seminoles had recorded just 32 blocks as a team. As Hamilton explained, they hadn't been too "disruptive" on the defensive end.
On Saturday? 15 blocks, including a few on jumpers.
From the very first possession through game's end the Seminoles (6-5) took advantage of their height.
Freshman forward Phil Cofer corralled an offensive rebound and put it back for the first basket. With two minutes remaining in the second half, sophomore forward Jarquez Smith connected on consecutive alley-oops.
Knowing a team's dynamic is one thing. Trying to stop it is another. South Florida senior guard Corey Allen Jr., who scored a game-high 31 points, said Florida State contested every shot at the rim. Each time a Florida State big subbed out, another came in his place. After 40 minutes, that can wear down a team.
"Obviously they're a really big, athletic team," USF head coach Orlando Antigua said. "We knew that going in. We wanted to try and get some shots at the basket. Early on it might have intimidated some of our guys who started ball-faking instead of playing with contact trying to finish at the basket."
One of those big men, Smith, is 6-foot-9, 225 pounds. When the Bulls (5-6) trimmed the deficit to 44-42 with 13:09 left, he sparked the Seminoles.
Held scoreless in the first half on four shots, Smith scored the next eight points as Florida State turned a two-point lead to 10 over a three-minute stretch. Smith and the other Florida State bench players outscored USF's 31-6. It helps, he said, watching the starters and then making adjustments.
"I just wanted to come out and get the team energy," said Smith, who finished with 16 points and six blocks. "That's not what I've been doing for the past few games. I felt the chip on my shoulder that I was letting the team down, so I felt I had to come out and bring it to our team as it made a run."
Saturday's result in which eight players scored and six blocked a shot represents the way the Seminoles will win games this season: as a community.
Everyone contributes. Consistency develops.
"We're the kind of team still trying find ourselves right now," Hamilton said. "Still searching for our identity. We had spurts in the beginning I thought we executed pretty well. On the offensive end I thought we showed we're still a work in progress."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
