Bacon, Beasley pace Noles to 98-79 victory
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Before Tuesday night, only one freshman in Florida State history had scored 20 points in his first two games as a Seminole. That was Tat Hunter during the 1985-86 season.
Thirty years later, during the second half of FSU's 98-79 victory Tuesday against visiting Jacksonville University, that number tripled.
Freshman guards Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley scored 27 and 21 points, respectively, to lead the Seminoles in scoring for the second consecutive game. In the season opener two days earlier, Bacon scored 23 and Beasley had 21.
"There's no doubt that they're making major contributions. And I think they're playing the game the right way," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Dwayne has really responded. I challenged him about being a little bit more aggressive on the boards - he had eight rebounds in that first game and nine rebounds tonight. I thought he had moments where you could just tell that he turned it up a notch. Beasley plays that way all the time."
After a challenging first half that saw Jacksonville lead by 11 early, Bacon and Beasley helped FSU blow the game open in the second half. With the Seminoles leading by seven, the freshman guards teamed up for a 9-0 run that took just over a minute of game time.
First, Beasley drained a 3-pointer, then Bacon recorded a steal and a dunk. After a pair of Bacon free throws, the McDonald's All-American then grabbed a loose ball near FSU's basket and led his own fast break, weaving between JU defenders before throwing down a thunderous dunk that gave the Seminoles a 57-41 lead.
"If you miss a shot, you're in deep trouble," Dolphins coach Tony Jasick said. "They're so fast with the ball. They're so athletic, running in transition. For us tonight, if we missed a shot, it was a layup at the other end. Or they put us in a really bad spot defensively.
"They're so fast in transition that they get you on your heels. Then when they can stop and make a 15-footer, that's hard to guard."
With the win, FSU improved to 2-0 heading into the Paradise Jam tournament this weekend at the U.S. Virgin Islands. Jacksonville fell to 0-2.
Bacon and Beaskey led a quartet of double-digit scorers for the 'Noles. Sophomore point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 13 points to go with a game-high five assists, and senior center Boris Bojanovsky scored 10 points.
It took a little while for the Seminoles to get going offensively against Jacksonville's sagging defense, which Hamilton compared to that of ACC rival Virginia. But once they settled in, they again played with impressive efficiency.
FSU shot 57.1 percent from the field, 43.5 percent from 3-point range, and they delivered 17 assists with 13 turnovers.
The Seminoles were not as impressive defensively, particularly when it came to handling senior guard Kori Babineaux. The Dolphins' leading scorer poured in 21 points in the first half and 31 for the game, mostly by beating FSU off the dribble and hitting short jump shots and floaters in traffic.
Babineaux connected on 14 of 27 shots from the field, but only 4 of 11 after halftime.
"They had a guy who was virtually unstoppable for us tonight," Hamilton said. "Our defensive techniques are not very good right now. They leave a lot to be desired."
The Seminoles had a chance to score 100 points for the second consecutive game -- something no FSU team had done in two decades -- but they scored just one point over the final 2:40.
Tuesday's game marked the return of senior Montay Brandon and junior Benji Bell from minor injuries. Both had missed the season opener and were limited in the preseason.
FSU opens play in the Paradise Jam on Friday night against Hofstra.