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Published Nov 29, 2023
FSU basketball blows late 17-point lead, falls apart in home loss vs. UGA
Curt Weiler  •  TheOsceola
Senior Writer
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@CurtMWeiler

When Florida State took a 17-point lead with less than eight minutes left, it looked like the Seminoles were going to overcome a sleepy, slow start.

Instead, FSU fell asleep at the wheel.

From that point, the FSU men's basketball team allowed Georgia to go on a 20-2 run in 5.5 minutes of game time to take the lead.

The Seminoles and Bulldogs traded the lead in the final few minutes before landing at a 66-all deadlock in the closing seconds. This set the stage for Georgia's Justin Hill to drill a stepback jumper with 1.5 seconds left to give the Bulldogs (4-3) a remarkable 68-66 win and the Seminoles (4-2) a dreadful loss on their home court.

"Obviously, we fell apart during that stretch," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said after the loss. "Making poor decisions, not meeting the ball, trying to make home-run plays. That says a lot about the progress we have to make in order for us to be a successful basketball team."

After taking a 61-44 lead with 7:53 left, FSU scored just five points and made two baskets the rest of the way with five turnovers in the final 6:26 of the game.

Meanwhile, Georgia, which was 15 of 45 (33.3%) from the floor before this stretch, finished the game making 7 of its final 10 shots, ending the game on a 24-5 run and winning a game it led for just two minutes and 34 seconds.

"We didn't finish our plays, they finished theirs and there lies a very disappointing loss," Hamilton said.

The loss covers up a strong performance by FSU guard Darin Green Jr., who scored 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting (4 of 8 from three).

Green was the only Seminole with double-digit points until there were less than six minutes left in the game and added five rebounds and two assists.

De'Ante Green was the only other Seminole to finish in double figures, scoring 14 points including the team's final five points of the game.

FSU was hindered by a few key players sitting on the bench in the final minutes. Starting center Baba Miller fouled out with 5:40 left and forward Jamir Watkins, the leading scorer on the season, fouled out with 56 seconds left and scored just seven points on 2 of 10 shooting.

Silas Demary Jr. ended the game as UGA's leading scorer with 15 points, 12 of which he scored after halftime.

The score of Wednesday's game ended up in a relatively normal zone, especially considering how slow a scoring start both teams had over the opening 20 minutes. The Seminoles and Bulldogs combined to make just 16 of 58 first-half field goals (a combined 27.6%) with FSU clinging to a 25-21 halftime lead.



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Things don't get any easier from here for the Seminoles. They play at No. 17 North Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the ACC opener for both teams.

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