The Florida State men's basketball team has eight days before it plays its next game, and the Seminoles looked again Monday night like they can use every minute of that break.
After getting stunned at home Saturday night by UCF and seeing a 27-game home win streak come to an end, the No. 21 Seminoles struggled to create any separation for most of Monday's game against visiting Gardner-Webb.
Thanks mostly to solid free-throw shooting and suffocating defense, the Seminoles pulled away for a 72-59 victory to improve to 5-1 on the season. Gardner-Webb fell to 1-4.
"I think we defended them as well as they've been defended," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I know we're a really, really good perimeter shooting team. I thought we shot poorly tonight."
Don't miss out on our great FSU sports coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial!
Box Score: No. 21 FSU 72, Gardner-Webb 59
Indeed they did.
FSU endured a brutal shooting performance from the perimeter (6-for-33 from 3-point range), but the Seminoles started getting the ball inside in the second half and were rewarded with a steady stream of free-throw attempts.
But most importantly to Hamilton, he thought the team had a much better energy on defense than it did in Saturday night's loss to UCF. He challenged his players after that game, saying in the postgame press conference that they weren't a good rebounding team and had trouble containing the dribble and protecting the rim.
Against Gardner-Webb, FSU had blocked eight shots, allowed just 6 of 16 makes near the rim and had an overwhelming 53-30 rebounding advantage. Gardner-Webb shot just 31 percent from the floor overall and was 9 of 33 from 3-point range.
"We definitely answered that challenge," said junior guard Anthony Polite, who had a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds. "We took that personal. That team that showed up against UCF wasn't us.
"We just got back to what we do (defensively)."
Offense was another story.
Leading scorer M.J. Walker hit just 1 of 7 3-point attempts, but he was far from the only player who struggled beyond the arc. Florida State missed 11 straight shots at one point, and even though it was controlling the interior and suffocating the Gardner-Webb offense, the game was still very much in doubt in the final minutes.
Fortunately for the ‘Noles, guard RayQuan Evans hit two big 3-pointers in the second half to help extend the lead, and the Seminoles finished the game on a 7-0 run over the final 2:17.
Hamilton said Evans has been struggling emotionally since watching the medical emergency involving Florida's Keyontae Johnson, saying he saw something similar happen earlier in his basketball career in which the player didn't survive.
"Hopefully making a couple of shots like that will rejuvenate his spirits," Hamilton said.
Said Polite: "We've been telling him to shoot the ball. He has a great shot."
Evans was the only Seminole on Monday night to make multiple 3-point attempts. FSU came into the game shooting over 40 percent from 3, but the Seminoles managed an 18-percent effort against Gardner-Webb.
It was still enough for the win.
The Seminoles hit 24 of 32 shots from the line and outscored the Runnin' Bulldogs by 10 points in that area.
Other than Polite, Balsa Koprivica was the only other Seminole in double-figures, scoring 14 points and pulling down 8 rebounds.
Gardner-Webb was led by guard Lance Terry, who scored 23 points. Terry came into the game averaging 11.0 points per game but had 15 in the first half alone.
FSU led by just two or four points for much of the second half, but Koprivica pushed the advantage to 65-57 with an alley-oop dunk (on a feed from Scottie Barnes) and a pair of free throws with less than four minutes remaining.
"We learned from our loss," Koprivica said. "I think that shows the true character of our guys. We're still learning to play with each other. ... It's still a learning process, we didn't have the full summer to play with each other as much."
The Seminoles got a scare early in the second half when freshman guard Scottie Barnes left with an apparent ankle or foot injury. He was able to walk off the court while limping, but eventually was taken to the locker room for further evaluation. He then returned to the game and played several minutes without no noticeable issues.
Walker then left with under three minutes remaining with an injury and was having so much trouble after the game that Barnes went and swooped him up and carried him back to the locker room.
But Hamilton said he thought it was just a thigh bruise for Walker and that it didn't look to be too much of an issue in the locker room.
The head coach knows his team has plenty of work to do, that's obvious. But he likes the spirit of his squad and how hard they're trying to get better.
He said Monday night, even as poorly as the Seminoles shot, was a step in the right direction.
"I haven't been overly impressed with the energy, the defensive effort, the deflections, the blocks, the seals on baselines, I haven't been that impressed with that," Hamilton said. "Tonight, Balsa got some baskets in transition. Where has that been? We got Malik (Osborne) with the tip dunk, where has that been?
"We've got to get back to doing all the little things."
FSU wraps up the early part of its schedule with five wins in six games. After a break for the holidays, the Seminoles will return to action Dec. 29 at Clemson before returning home to face Duke on Jan. 2.
---------------------------
Discuss the game with fans on Warchant's Seminole Hoops message
