Florida State didn’t need a “wow” night from Jamir Watkins. Taylor Bol Bowen, Malique Ewin and Daquan Davis provided enough scoring as the Seminoles captured their first ACC win of the season.

Davis had 18 points, Bowen had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Ewin had 14 points as FSU pulled away in the second half with a 90-74 win over Syracuse on Saturday. The Orange are rated 124th by KenPom, the second-highest win for the Seminoles in 2024-25 (Temple is 118th).

"We want more, we're not satisfied at all by any means," Bowen said. "We know what we're capable of and what we can accomplish together. This is just the start."

Bowen shot 6 of 10 from the floor and had his second double-double of the season (the first came in December against Winthrop, when he had 13 points and 13 rebounds). He had a season-high 17 points in FSU’s opener against Northern Kentucky.

Davis was just 3 of 8 from the floor but made 10 of 10 free-throw attempts. It was one point off his career high.

"Daquan has that ‘it’ factor," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Sometimes you can’t explain. He’s ready to go in practice. In warmups. In the game. He’s just one of those guys that’s always emotionally ready."

Ewin was again on the court for heavy minutes early, pulling down seven rebounds and creating some deflections on the defensive end for FSU (10-4, 1-2 ACC). He finished 7 of 11 from the floor.

Watkins shot 3 of 10 from the floor and 9 of 13 from the line, finishing with 16 points. It was far from impressive, and he had five turnovers, but Watkins had 10 second-half points as FSU finished well.

Hamilton won ACC titles and competed for others with a theory that his bench players (those he often called players 6-10) were better than the opponent’s 6-10. Through 14 games, approaching the midpoint of the 2024-25 season, the Seminoles have been inconsistent. So let's consider FSU's performance at Saturday a "glass half full" one.

Exhibit A: FSU’s bench had just three points in the first half, a Jerry Deng basket and a Bostyn Holt free-throw attempt.

Exhibit B: The Seminoles deliver in the second half, contributing 18 points off the bench. Jerry Deng had seven points and three rebounds, Bostyn Holt added five points and Alier Maluk had four points.

"Second half, I thought we did a much better job, got more energy into the game," Hamilton said. "The rotation guys in the first half, I thought grew up a little bit. We challenged them at halftime. We needed them to be a part of making the difference. I thought they came into the game and made the difference in the second half with their deflections and their steals and their energy."

Syracuse still outscored FSU’s reserves 30-21. But the second-half effort was encouraging.

The Seminoles led 36-34 at halftime and just 57-53 in the second half after Syracuse's Chris Bell made a 3-pointer. But FSU pulled away with a modest 7-0 run and led by double figures in the final three minutes, 55 seconds.

FSU shot 23 of 38 (60.5 percent) from inside the arc. The Seminoles finished 7 of 18 from 3-point range.

Bowen added three blocks. Maluk also had two blocks.

Davis had three of FSU's nine steals.

Syracuse struggled to find consistent production down low. The Orange finished 10 of 24 from 3-point range.

JJ Starling had 12 points for Syracuse in his first game back since Nov. 27.

An FSU spokesperson handed out a written statement prior to Hamilton's press conference postgame: "On the advice of my attorney, I cannot provide any comment regarding the pending litigation at this time. Thank you for your understanding."

FSU travels to Miami on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and plays at Clemson next Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Seminoles play host to Pittsburgh on Jan. 15 at 9 p.m.

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