No. 8 FSU Basketball Turns Fine 2nd Half into Romp over Pitt
FSU extended several streaks tonight, the biggest by earning its 21st straight home court victory. With the win, FSU is the only ACC team without a home court loss this year. Two lesser streaks were also extended: starting the game in slow motion and not being able to buy a free throw attempt when playing against Pitt. But still, Florida State emerged with a comfortable 82-67 victory over the Panthers to improve to 22-4 and 12-3 in conference play.
What went right
The offense was a bit hard to watch at times, but the statistics bear out that it was a much better night than how it felt early. 50% FGs, 40% from three, and 75% from the line-- from a team that's know for its defense. At one point late in the game, FSU was up by 22.
FSU rebounded the ball very well, 40 to 27, beating Pitt on both ends of the court.
Patrick Williams had the kind of game I've been expecting since the season started. He lead all players in scoring, with 16, was active all over the court, and repeatedly demonstrated his gift of being able to out-jump everyone else (enjoy him while you can, folks, because NBA teams will soon be opening their checkbooks to lure him to the league.)
Rest. Nobody played more than 25 minutes tonight, and 11 players logged at least 10 minutes. Fresh legs this late in the season can impact the games that will affect tournament seeding.
Bench points. The bench looked much more comfortable on the court than did the starters, and outscored them 53-29. Williams and Polite lead the way, as the latter went for 10 points and six boards. Those are some nice contributions to bring off the bench.
What didn't go as well
The slow starts continue. Over the first few minutes of the game it looked like FSU was playing against the Clippers. The Seminoles turned the ball over, missed easy shots, made bad passes, forgot to defend, and looked like they weren't out for revenge for the season's first loss. But they slowly got their act together and had a five-point lead at the half, then dominated the second half.
At one point early in the game Pitt was actually called for more fouls (6-2) than FSU, and their star freshman was on the bench with two of them. Apparently somebody called the lead official and reminded him that this was a Pitt-FSU game, and they needed to make some adjustments. From there on, the whistles went 3-1 against FSU, with the Seminoles called for 21 overall to Pitt's 13. 21 fouls aren't egregious, but they did result in Pitt shooting 26 free throw attempts to FSU's 12.
MJ Walker tried to play with a lexan facemask to protect his sewn together lower lip. It didn't last very long, and he actually played most of the game without the mask. Despite taking a charge, absorbing an elbow to the chin, and drawing several hard fouls on drives to the basket, he hung in there and played well, for the most part. I'll attribute his off-shooting night to the lip. That bow-up late in the game had nothing to do with a sore lip and was uncalled for. Head coach Leonard Hamilton will remind him that in a close game that could be a game-changer for the worse.
Adding it up
FSU won a game it should have won. It beat the spread, which should make all of the polls, computers, and bracketologists happy. The 'Noles are still on the 2/3 seed cusp and a lock for the tournament.
