Florida State easily dismisses Skyhawks
Florida State easily defeated Tennessee-Martin 95-68 to improve to 11-2 on the season. The 95 points scored is a season-high for the Seminoles.
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"I am not real sure scoring 95 points against a team that is 1-9 is significant right now," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Other than the fact that doing that during the game means we moved the ball and made good decisions with the ball for the most part, that is what I am excited about."
The game was never in question as Florida State opened with a 16-0 run and led 23-2 with 12:15 remaining in the opening half. The Seminoles would widen the gap to as many as 33 points in the second half.
"You always concern yourself with these types of games because any time that your guys are getting ready to go home for Christmas and you are coming off an emotional victory like we are on Sunday, you are concerned about your mental and emotional approach to a game like this," Hamilton said. "But I was very pleased we started the game off with a tremendous amount of energy with defense and aggressiveness. We got out to a nice, comfortable lead."
For the Seminoles, freshman guard Michael Snaer scored a career-high 18 points in the victory. Snaer has now scored in double figures in five of his last six games.
"I think he is a little bit more aware of his surroundings and his teammates," Hamilton said. "He is still learning and growing. He is still making adjustments, but I like what I see."
Snaer said the credit for his good night goes to his teammates.
"A lot of my players set me up for really good looks," Snaer said. "I just wanted to be more aggressive on the offensive end, in transition, attacking the basket, looking for people, and trying to get other people wide open shots and trying to get myself shots. It was just playing the game."
Five other Seminoles had double figures - Xavier Gibson (12), Terrance Shannon (11), Deividas Dulkys (10), Chris Singleton (10), and Jordan DeMercy (10).
Walk-on Joey Moreau also hit a 3-pointer in the final minute, establishing a new career high for him as well.
In addition to Snaer's career night in the scoring column, Shannon established a new career high while Gibson equaled his career high.
Others who established new career highs in other statistical categories were Luke Loucks, with nine rebounds, while equaling his career high in assists with seven. Shannon also had a career-high six rebounds. Dulkys also equaled his career high with four assists.
As a team, Florida State had a season-high 28 assists and tied a season-high nine 3-pointers in the victory.
Guard Marquis Weddle led the Skyhawks with 27 points.
Senior Ryan Reid did not play in the game due to being under the weather.
The Seminoles will now break for Christmas, returning to the court on New Year's Eve to host Alabama A&M.
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