There was no hangover to be found coming off Florida State's first loss of the season.

Facing a pesky and undefeated Hofstra team, the Seminole men's basketball team took care of business Tuesday night. FSU (4-1) ran away with a fairly comfortable 79-61 win over the Pride (4-1) at the Tucker Civic Center.

The Seminoles led from wire-to-wire in the game, scoring on their first possession and opening up an 8-0 lead before Hofstra got on the board. The Pride cut the deficit to two points early in the second half thanks to a quick 14-7 run.

However, FSU responded with six points in rapid succession and had restored the lead to double digits with two minutes. It stayed at nine-plus points the rest of the way.

Jamir Watkins led the Seminoles with 17 points and six rebounds. But it was a balanced scoring effort that led the Seminoles. 10 of the 11 Seminoles who played before garbage time scored points and nine of them scored five-plus points. FSU got 24 points from its bench in the win.

After battling some early foul trouble, forward Malique Ewin scored 11 of his season-high 13 points in the second half, making five of his seven shots from the floor and adding six rebounds.

After FSU's defense was not always up to snuff in its first real test of the season vs. Florida, the Seminoles were much better defensively to start their next game against Hofstra.

In the first half, the Pride managed just 23 points, shot 34.6% from the floor and had as many turnovers (nine) as they had made field goals.

After that hot Hofstra stretch to begin the second half, FSU settled in nicely. While Hofstra finished with a 48% shooting percentage, it turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 23 points off turnovers for the Seminoles.

"That's refreshing. To hear the encouraging words they're giving to each other, which is refreshing, they're challenging each other..." FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said of the Seminoles' continued defensive success this season. "That's part of how you develop a good flow, holding each other accountable. That's a process you go through, especially when you have so many new guys."

Justin Thomas and Malique Ewin led the way with four and three steals, respectively, but eight different FSU players had at least one steal Tuesday, contributing to the team's total of 14 steals. FSU has racked up double-digit steals in four of its first five games this season.

It wasn't the most productive of perimeter shooting nights for the Seminoles.

FSU shot 9 of 26 (34.6%) from outside the arc, the fifth time in as many games this season it has failed to surpass 35% three-point shooting in a game this season.

That being said, it was a night where the Seminoles showed they have quite a few options capable of having success from outside the arc. FSU's nine made threes came from seven different players.

Jamir Watkins (2 of 8) and Boston Holt (2 of 3) led the way with Taylor Bol Bowen, Daquan Davis, Jerry Deng, AJ Swinton and Justin Thomas each adding one three apiece.

"I always thought we would be a good three-point shooting team," Hamilton said. "What did we make, nine threes tonight? That just shows a lot of this is mental."

FSU hits the road this weekend to play in its neutral-site tournament, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Uncasville, Conn.

The Seminoles will face Temple Friday at 5 p.m. and UMass Sunday at 3 p.m.