FSU Basketball suffers first loss to Florida Gators, 87-74

Florida State and Florida entered the game each 3-0, with the Seminoles looking to prove their defense was legitimate while the Gators wanted to prove they were one of the best teams in the country. The Gators were the more talented team, but FSU is a scrappy bunch, and anything can happen in a rivalry.

Both teams struggled from three entering this game, but Florida quickly killed off the slow start, hitting 7/15 from deep in the first half. Walter Clayton Jr. gave FSU fans flashbacks of Duke Jared McCain last season. The defense that had been so strong for the Seminoles to start the season started to show some warts by not matching up in transition and lacking communication on the perimeter. They forced turnovers at a high rate, but when Florida did get a shot going, it usually went in.

Jamir Watkins missed his first four free throws, continuing a trend from early in the season, and it was part of the reason FSU trailed 44-31 at the half. The second was that the offense went ice cold if Watkins didn’t initiate the action. After starting the game 2/2 from three, the Seminoles made just one of their next seven attempts from deep, while it felt like the Gators couldn’t miss.

FSU’s defense played a little better in the second half, but they could never get close enough to worry the Gators. They had a chance to cut the lead to five or six with about 12 minutes left on some good looks, but they missed and Florida extended the lead right back to double digits.

And so went the rest of the second half. Florida State would pull it down to eight or nine, and UF would push it right back to 12 or 13. That was until the final four minutes of the game.

FSU finally got over that eight-point lead hump by cutting it to six on a Jamir Watkins layup, then Daquan Davis hit a layup on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to four with 2:21 to play, the closest of the game. had been since the first half.

Florida would make two free throws, and Malique Ewin would miss a layup to keep the lead at six, Alijah Martin would bank in a three (after the shot clock expired, but Teddy Valentine is a blind official), and then Walter Clayton Jr. hit another three to extend the lead to 12, and that would be all she wrote.

The Seminoles showed some fight and a much better effort in the second half, but in the end it wouldn’t be enough, as they would fall to the Gators 85-73.

Jamir Watkins had 19 points but would be behind Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. in points, who had 25.

Here are three takeaways from Friday’s loss..

We’ve seen some teams over the last few years give up when the going gets tough, but this team stuck with it until the end. Had it not been for Alijah Martin’s put-in three that was after the clock expired, who knows how the last minute and change would have gone? But this is a group willing to work for everything they get, and it’s a team worth watching.

Justin Thomas kept the Seminoles afloat, Jamir Watkins was (mostly) Jamir Watkins, and Daquan Davis showed flashes of what he could be as a college point guard. But it can be hard to watch this team try to score at times. Malique Ewin, a center, was just 4/13 from the floor. He has all the talent in the world but constantly misses right at the edge. Coach Hamilton and his staff must find ways to make the offense easier for this group.

Todd Golden said he would be concerned if his team turned it over more than 12 times in this game. They turned it over nineteen times. And still managed the game. Florida State needs to figure out some of their communication issues because they will be able to force turnovers with the best of them.

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