Consider Monday night’s effort for Florida State a made statement.
Facing No. 5 Florida on the road, the Seminoles dominated from the latter parts of the first half on in an 83-66 victory. Terance Mann paced the Seminoles with a career-high 25 points on 11-for-17 shooting and eight rebounds as FSU improved to 7-0 for the first time since the 2008-09 season. FSU has now won a school-record four straight over its rival — the longest streak in school-history.
FSU raced to a 10-1 lead, but the Gators (5-2) seemed to have found their rhythm midway through the first half. Florida’s final lead of the night came on a Jalen Hudson jumper to make the score 35-34 with less than three minutes to play in the first half. Phil Cofer, who finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, capped an 8-0 run to end the half with a thunderous alley-oop drunk as the Seminoles took a 42-35 lead to the locker room.
After a Hudson jumper cut the lead to four early in the second half, the Seminoles responded with a 13-3 run and never looked back. Florida never got closer than 12 over the game’s final eight minutes.
The story for FSU was defense and rebounding. The Seminoles held the nation’s top scoring team to just 36 percent shooting and just 6-for-25 from the behind the 3-point line. FSU also enjoyed a 51-34 advantage on the glass with 23 of those rebounds coming on the offensive end.
In addition to big nights from Mann and Cofer, C.J. Walker finished with 17 points to go with game-highs of four assists and three steals. Braian Angola chipped in with 10 points.
Hudson led Florida with 16 points. KeVaughn Allen finished with 15 points, but was less efficient than in past years against FSU, shooting just four of 11. Egor Koulechov finished with 11 points for the Gators, but was just 4-for-13, thanks largely to a cold shooting second half.
FSU will have a short turnaround as it returns home to host Loyola-Maryland on Wednesday. Florida will also be in action at home on Wednesday against Loyola-Chicago.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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