If you listened to Michael Rogner and myself on the podcast earlier this week, you would have heard us both predicting a comfortable victory. pittsburgh panthers The Panthers have the arsenal to do two things that FSU has struggled with on defense all season, going beyond FSU, breaking the team off the dribble and making many threes.
we were wrong
instead of, Florida Raining threes from across the court and finishing 10-20 from deep, the Seminoles exited the Oakland Zoo with a stunning 71-64 win. This is his second home win away for the Seminoles after starting the season 0-8 outside the bounds of the Tucker Center.
first half:
Pitt’s five starters were all experienced college basketball transfers, and it was clear that experience kicked off the game. Florida State committed turnovers on its first two possessions But both are the result of indecision forced by the Pit Panther defense. This gave the home side an easy basket early on to take a 9-3 lead. Sensing that his young team might already be in danger, coach Hamilton spent an early timeout to calm his men. Cameron his Cohen scored quickly from a timeout, but on defense the Seminoles still looked heels. Jalen Warley was out of position late in the shot clock, fouling his shooter for three points, and Pitt completed his four-point play to make him 13-5. After FSU missed his two free throws on the next possession, the other side made a layup for his second chance, giving the Panthers a sudden 10-point lead with just over five minutes into the game.
But Florida State quickly cut it to a 4-point deficit with back-to-back three balls by Caleb Mills and Darrin Green Jr., and those two baskets ignited momentum for Garnett and Gold. Wally made a nice cut to the basket and was rewarded by alert Matthew Cleveland. Mills fired. Green sank a step-back jumper out of the short corner.Bubba Miller swallowed a defensive rebound and slammed a Panther layup. And Chandler Jackson swept a fade away in lane from a sweet spin move. Pit coach Jeff Capel eventually called for a timeout to try and stop the bleeding, but after an FSU press forced a turnover, Jackson ejected a three-ball over the keys, so the timeout stopped at nothing. I didn’t.
Once the dust settled, the Seminoles used a 20-2 run to take a 25-17 lead with 9:20 remaining. It’s probably the best two-way basketball stretch for FSU since before Malik Osborne got injured midway through last season.
Over the next five minutes, both teams improved their physical ability and then scored less. Shots were made here and there, but mostly due to impressive individual play by the men on both sides. Unfortunately, the fouls seemed to be called only one side, with “Noles had seven fouls and Pitt had just one. This gave the Panthers a shot just 9-26 from the field. , and was able to score points for the charity stripes.” The only reason Florida State was able to maintain its effective margin was Cleveland emptying out a pair of difficult turnaround jumpers reminiscent of Al Thornton shades. was.
Just when the Panthers seemed to be heading back towards the lead, Florida State landed another quick punch combination. Wally showed off his high hoop IQ by jumping in front of Lazy’s pass in the backcourt and leading directly to his bomb on another green from downtown. FSU then forced a shot his clock his violation, raising the lead to 12 when Wally single-handedly dropped a sweet dish into his Cleveland cutting.
Pitt made free throws in the eighth and ninth of the half before the horn rang, but FSU held onto a double-digit lead going into the locker room after being down ten just fifteen minutes earlier.
is similar to Notre Dame In the game earlier in the week, FSU’s scoring offense was balanced in the first half. This included five points each from Miller and Jackson, a significant bench contribution.
Latter half:
The second stanza opened with intense back-and-forth action. It was clear that FSU wanted to come out and keep the gas pedal on, but it was also clear that Pitt knew the game couldn’t get away from them. Losing to an FSU team would be a huge loss for a team aiming to be on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble, and the Panthers fall into that category.
The Panthers shot 2-11 from 3 in the first half, mostly going 0-3 to junior Blake Hinson. As expected, it didn’t last long. Hinson came out of the locker room glowing, hitting one, two, three shots from deep in the first stretch of the second half. And while FSU was able to make a bucket in the first 3-4 minutes (his one from a beautifully executed pick-and-roll from the green to Cohen for an easy dunk), Florida’s 1st-half scored the first half. His three pointers, which were falling at State University, started ringing. Second. The FSU guys added an unusually long stretch without a wind-breathing whistle, and Pitt was able to turn a long rebound into a basket on the other side.
As a result, the Seminoles’ 10-point lead at halftime turned into a 48-45 lead for the Panthers at the 13:30 mark. Pitt extended it to 50-45 after two more free throws, making it a 10-0 run for the Panthers.
The bleeding was eventually stopped by Green. Green pulled up three from Allegheny and drilled a step-back midrange shot on the next trip. Knowles had a chance to equalize with his 52, but Cleveland lost control a bit, pivoting and dragging his foot when attempting a break.
But who needs a tie when you can take the lead? and made it to net 3. 52 leads. After briefly trading baskets, FSU extended their lead to his four points at 60-56 with back-to-back easy layups for Green (Deante). The second of the two was especially great, as Mills put English in a one-handed bounce pass through the lane.
More back and forth basketballs left the score at 62-59 for Florida State in the final media timeout, with Green Jr. fouled on a three-point attempt just before the commercials. Green topped all three of his and FSU he led 65-59. However, Pittsburgh cut the lead to three on Nellie Cummings’ deep ball. It was a second-chance bucket as Mills tried to secure the rebound from Cummings’ previous mistake, but a questionable no-call at Over-the-Back caused the ball to bounce and return to the pits.
The two teams traded empty possessions until Jamalius Burton hit a tough runner in the lane to make it 65-64 FSU. But mom, there’s that guy. Green, Jr. hit a step-back 3, the fifth of the game, to give Florida State a 4-lead with 90 seconds left. The Seminoles had a chance to extend it further, but Mills forced a drive instead of passing to an open corner Cleveland, and the ball bounced off his feet and went out of bounds. However, no damage was done as the teams again exchanged empty possessions. Mills compensated for the turnovers with great transition defense to draw out player-controlled fouls against the Panthers.
Then Mills hit 1-of-2 from the line to push the lead to 69-64 with just over 20 seconds remaining, and after the Panthers missed three, Green Jr. sank two free throws to make it 71-64. I made it The game ends with 11 seconds remaining.
Green Jr. clearly stood out with FSU on his back in the second half stretch. The Jr. only scored 24 points on 12 shots he had and 4 assists and he added 2 rebounds.
Speaking of two rebounds, Cleveland finished with two rebounds and failed to extend his double-double streak to nine, ending the game with 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and a block.
box score To the point:
—Darrin Green, Jr. can shoot basketball with all his might. Shocking news, isn’t it? Everyone in Tallahassee, come to Tucker his center for this week’s game, just to see this guy shoot. A shot as beautiful as you’ll see in college basketball.
—Bubba Miller and Chandler Jackson make the difference. Both continue to improve their conditioning and comfort on the court, but both are clearly starting to make an impact. , and Miller’s size indicates a mismatch on the court, even if it was someone else who ended up beneficiating. You can see that the player is starting with 34 instead of 38 or 39. It may not seem like a huge difference, but her five extra minutes of rest scattered throughout the game certainly make a difference. About shots and rotations when closing out a win. Over the next few games, expect his coaching staff to bring Miller up to his 20+ minute range and Jackson to at least his 12–15 minute range.
— For the first time in the entire season, FSU actually looked a little confused on the defensive side! There were even weak side blocks. No doubt the pit still had many open looks from the depths.FSU was lucky that a few more didn’t fall. It was nice to see a stretch where Hamilton did what he predicted the entire defense. This is frustrating for other teams.
—that could be the type of loss that would cost the Panthers a bid for the NCAA Tournament. FSU said the bubble could burst in the league, but Pitt became the first casualty against a much-improved Florida team.
what’s your point? Please share them in the comments!
next:
Florida State is back in Tallahassee for a two-game home stand. The first of the two is a visit from a rival in Coral Gables on Tuesday night. Isaiah Wong and the explosive Hurricanes came after Cameron’s hard-hitting indoor loss and are hungry to take his 16th win of the season against the Seminoles.
