The FSU men’s basketball team will face No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast at the in Orlando on Thursday night while the FSU women begin on their home court against No. 14 Western Illinois on Friday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
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That underscored much of how the second half unraveled for the Seminoles, who provided timely responses each time the upset-minded Eagles made a push.
The Seminoles’ high-flying aerial show was on full display Thursday night, collecting nine dunks and nine blocked shots in outlasting Gulf Coast 86-80 to win its first NCAA tournament game since 2012 at the Amway Center.
“When we hit our free throws, we don’t have an issue”, said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team improved to 26-8. We’ll get stronger. I think we’re going to add a couple pieces. “I love winning. To win on this stage would just be another – just part of my dream, just more to my dream”.
Dwayne Bacon scored 25 points on an efficient 11-for-17 shooting to lead the Seminoles while Jonathan Isaac filled up the box score with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
Florida State (25-8), the No. 3 seed in the West Region, has done it all season against a much more impressive slate of opponents in the ACC.
Aside from Morant’s dunk to tie the score at 2-2 just 51 seconds into the game, Florida Gulf Coast’s only other dunk came from sophomore guard Rayjon Tucker to cut the Florida State lead to 28-23 with 5:51 left in the first half. He finished with five points and five rebounds. “So I just try to run as hard and play as hard as I can, and my teammates found me when I did”. “I thought we never gave up”.
Florida State is now 2-0 all time against FGCU, with both appearances coming in postseason play. The Seminoles expect this trip to the tournament will be the start of a consistent run after four consecutive years of missing out.
Here’s how to watch Florida State-Florida Gulf Coast online.
With Florida down 37-35 early on in the second half, Robinson came up clutch during the Gators’ 22-6 run, with back-to-back threes to lift them to a seven-point lead that only kept growing. An alley-oop from Braian Angola-Rodas to big 7-foot-1 Michael Ojo had FSU ahead on FGCU 28-19.
“So this was great for us to get back on the right side of the win-loss column”, said Gators head coach Mike White. “I think there’s a lot of fans hoping for us to beat FSU”.
Bacon ensured the Eagles’ year wouldn’t continue despite their gritty effort.
“I’m very excited. I’ve been waiting all four years to finally make it here”, the former Jones County star said. “(FGCU) mixed their defenses up, man-to-man and zone.
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Sometimes this Gator team has a great deal of difficulty shooting the ball, or will turn it over too often.
