After a loss on Saturday, Florida State was able to right the ship Monday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center with a 69-58 win over Charleston Southern, but it didn’t come as easy as some would have expected.
For a whole half and part of the second, Charleston Southern (4-6) gave FSU all it wanted. The Buccaneers led as late as just before the 7-minute mark in the first half and were tied at 20 with less than six minutes to play before the break. A layup by FSU’s C.J. Walker sparked an 8-0 to put the Seminoles (10-1) ahead for good, but Charleston Southern closed the half with six straight points to trail just 28-26 at the break.
Christian Keeling’s 3-pointer earlier in the second half got Charleston Southern to within one at 30-29 before the Seminoles used a 16-1 run to cruise to victory. Four different FSU players scored during the run that ultimately put the contest away.
Senior Phil Cofer paced the Seminoles for a second straight game, finishing with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting and tying for a team-high with six rebounds. Terance Mann added 17 points on 8 for 11, a game-high seven assists and six boards. Braian Angola chipped in with 11 points and a team-high three steals.
FSU shot 52 percent from the field while holding the Buccaneers to just 36 percent and forcing 20 turnovers. Where Charleston Southern was able to stay competitive was on the glass as it dominated FSU on the boards, 39-26.
Keeling finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting to lead Charleston Southern. Junior Travis McConico kept the Buccaneers in it early with his 3-point shooting en route to finishing with 17 points, a game-high nine rebounds and a team-high two steals. McConico shot 5-for-11 from deep on a night where the Buccaneers made just eight triples as a team.
The loss was the fourth straight for Charleston Southern, who will be in action again on Thursday at home against Johnson & Wales. FSU will also be in action at home on Thursday as it hosts Southern Mississippi.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
finance85
December 19, 2017 at 8:46 am
Poor free throw shooting is going to cost this team at least 5 games, including the loss to Oklahoma State. I define poor as under 70% as a team.