For the second straight game, Florida State hit the century mark. The Seminoles notched their largest victory of the season on Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center with a 100-71 victory over Detroit Mercy in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Detroit Mercy got off to a strong start, using a 9-0 run in the first half to take a 13-10 lead with less than 14 minutes remaining, but that’s about where any real hope for an upset ended. After the Titans (1-3) cut the FSU lead to one at 20-19 near the midway point in the first half, the Seminoles responded with a 25-6 run and never looked back. FSU led 48-35 at the break.
Dwayne Bacon scored 22 points to pace FSU while freshman standout Jonathan Isaac recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow freshman Trent Forrest had the best game of his young career with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting, five assists and a game-high four steals. Terance Mann and Xavier Rathan-Mayes added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Chris Jenkins led the Titans with 18 points and kept them in it for most of the day. His jumper with just over 13 minutes to play in the game cut the lead back to single digits at 64-56, but that’s as close as the game would get. The Seminoles (4-0) responded with a 32-4 run to turn the contest into a rout.
Despite shooting just 1-for-14 from deep, the Seminoles shot better than 57 percent from the field as a team. FSU also had a decided edge on the glass, grabbing 41 rebounds to Detroit Mercy’s 31. Jaleel Hogan added 12 points for the Titans on an efficient 5-for-8 from the field.
FSU will leave Tallahassee for the first time this season as it resumes the NIT Season Tip-Off against Temple in Brooklyn on Thursday. Detroit Mercy will play a fourth straight road game Wednesday at New Hampshire.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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