3 takeaways as FSU Basketball falls apart in second half vs UMass, loses 4th straight

Florida State went down to Sunrise, Florida, to play in the Orange Bowl Classic for the 15th time for a matchup against UMass on Saturday afternoon. FSU entered the game having lost its last three games against Texas A&M, Georgia, and Houston, while UMass entered the game having won four straight, including against a different ACC opponent on Wednesday, Boston College.

And the game started like two teams trending in different directions. Florida State kept leaving UMass' two shooters, Marcus Banks Jr. and K'Jei Parker, wide open, and they were making the Seminoles pay, making 7 of their first 8 threes. FSU's defensive effort in the first 10 minutes of the game was horrific. They were over-pursuing on the perimeter, but then kept losing track of shooters, and they weren't forcing turnovers at the rate they wanted.

UMass eventually led by 13 in the first half because of that. And then, for some reason, UMass went to a zone. And Robert McCray V picked it apart. He led FSU on a 17-2 run, which included a 10-0 stretch, to give them their first lead of the game late in the first half. He was getting downhill, and if he wasn't finishing at the rim, he was kicking out to open shooters. That's the biggest reason FSU was able to take a 47-43 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Marcus Banks Jr. couldn't get it going, but Leonardo Bettiol sure could down low. Had had 14 points in the first 8+ minutes, and FSU's bigs just had no answer for him. He was getting whatever he wanted in the low post with good footwork and soft pump fakes, which let UMass get back out in front.

UMass ended up leading by 9 with a little more than six minutes remaining, which felt like a do-or-die time for the Seminoles. But a dead-ball technical foul on Lajae Jones (weird play) gave UMass two free throws and the ball, then hit another three after that sequence, pushing the lead to 17. And that would basically do it, with UMass going on to win 103-95.

This was the first surprising win/loss result of the season. And it points things in a bad direction for a team that really needed a win. They just couldn't build on the momentum they built in the first half, and they were dominated down low. There's no help coming for that this year. But this looked like a game with a brand new, under-talented team, with a brand new, very raw coaching staff. It's hard to ask for patience, especially with a loss like this, but this was never going to be an immediate fix for Coach Loucks. However, this kind of effort, especially defensively, can't be the standard. Loucks knows that.

FINAL (finally): Florida State falls to UMass 103-95

First bad loss of the season, results-wise. Second-chance points and points in the paint really tell the whole difference. Gonna have to steal one up there.

NEXT: at Dayton on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/j796BD7RxP
— Austin Veazey (@EasyVeazeyNG) December 13, 2025

1. Center Has To Be The Biggest Priority for FSU Next Offseason

The center play this season has been so lackluster for Florida State with the combination of Alex Steen, Alier Maluk, and Shah Muhammad. They were supposed to have Egor Ryzhov, but they couldn't get his visa figured out. They do have the massive 4-star center Marcis Ponder signed on for next season, but they'll need a proven big man in the portal next year alongside him. Too many times, especially in this game, FSU has been beaten badly inside because someone was in a bad position, or didn't have the physicality to keep someone off a spot, or the patience to stay down on a pump fake. It has to improve. They lost this game in large part because they couldn't contend with Leonardo Bettiol, and there are a lot better bigs than Bettiol.

2. Don't Go Zone Against Robert McCray V

One of the few bright spots in this was Robert McCray V. He was dicing up UMass' zone with his strength, but also getting two feet in the paint to kick out to open shooters or to a backdoor cutter. Whether they made the shot or not is a different story, but he was getting the ball where it needed to be 90% of the time, and he hasn't played that way recently. It was good to see.

3. Why is This Team Shooting So Poorly From Three?

On paper, this Florida State team has a lot of strong three-point shooters. Kobe MaGee, Lajae Jones, and Martin Somerville were all really strong shooters at their last stops, Chauncey Wiggins has flashed the potential to do it, and Robert McCray V is capable. And yet, this team has not shot well since basically the first few games of the season. Is it the pace? Is it the quality of shots (which does need improving)? But they're also just missing open opportunities. And some of it feels unexplainable.

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