12/13/2022 basketball Edit

FSU basketball coasts past USC Upstate for second straight win

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

Momentum has been hard to come by for the Florida State men's basketball team this year. Twelve games into the season, the Seminoles finally managed to start their first winning streak Tuesday night.

Coming off Saturday's home win over Louisville, the Seminoles (3-9, 1-1 in ACC) won their second straight game, coasting to a 80-63 win over USC Upstate at the Tucker Civic Center.

"We've got a long way to go, but we're showing signs of getting better," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said after the win. "At least the last four games we've played, I think we've shown that we're moving in the right direction. We've just got to keep winning while we're growing and improving."

After a back-and-forth first half that was tied into the final minutes, the Seminoles went on what was essentially a game-winning run from the end of the first half into the start of the second.

With the game tied at 27-27 and just over five minutes left before halftime, FSU closed the first half on a 9-3 run. It opened the second half on a 12-2 run, opening up a lead that was up to 17 points just four minutes into the half.

This run allowed the Seminoles to never feel too badly threatened, leading by at least 10 points for the remainder of the game.

FSU sophomore guard Matthew Cleveland led the way in the victory with a team-high 16 points. He also continued his recent rebounding ways. With 10 rebounds, he put up his second double-double in the last three games.

Cleveland has had eight or more rebounds in each of the last three games after he didn't have more than seven in any of FSU's first nine games.

"I think that's the competitive nature of this young man. He realizes that we're playing small-ball as compared to what we've become accustomed to and so we need him to be more aggressive and he's responding," Hamilton said of Cleveland's improved rebounding. "That's just part of growing up and maturing, accepting the responsibility that is given to you on the team and going out and trying to do what is required of him. That's a heavy load to carry."

Cleveland's performance was supplemented by Darin Green Jr., who had 15 points, Caleb Mills, who scored 13, and Naheem McLeod, who added a season-high 12 points. Overall, 65 of FSU's 80 points came from its five starters, all of whom scored nine or more points.

USC Upstate was led by 20 points from sophomore guard Floyd Rideau Jr., who was 4 of 7 from three-point range. This made up for the fact that the team's leading scorer this season, Jordan Gainey, was 2 of 19 from the floor with nine points.

Turnovers again a problem early

As FSU has improved its performances of late, taking better care of the ball has been a big part of that. FSU had just eight turnovers in its close home loss to Purdue and nine in Saturday's home win over Louisville.

The turnovers returned in an unfortunate way against the Spartans. FSU had nine turnovers in the first half, turning it over on 26.5% of its possessions in the opening 20 minutes.

It definitely hurt matters that Upstate turned those into 13 points off turnovers, often getting out on fast breaks off live-ball turnovers.

This did improve dramatically in the second half, with FSU committing just four turnovers over the final 20 minutes. Because of this improvement and who the opponent was, it didn't come back to haunt the Seminoles. It will be much harder to win that way, though, when ACC play returns in full force starting next week.

Up Next

FSU closes out non-conference play in the AutoNation Orange Bowl Classic. The Seminoles will take on St. John's on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (RSN) at FLALive Arena in Sunrise, Fla.

After that, FSU returns home next week, diving back into ACC play at home against Notre Dame next Wednesday.