FSU sluggish in early start, falters vs. Siena
Florida State struggled from the start and couldn’t dig out of an early deficit in a lopsided, frustrating loss to a mid-major.
Cam’Ron Fletcher scored 13 points, pulled down six rebounds and had five steals but the Seminoles fell to Siena 80-63 on Thursday at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando. Matthew Cleveland added 14 points, with 13 coming in the second half, on 6 of 15 shooting.
Siena looked far more organized and passed well in the half-court offense, looking for good opportunities and making 53 percent of the shots from the floor against a disorganized FSU defense. UNC transfer Andrew Platek had 20 points on 7 of 9 shooting for Siena, which was ranked 252nd in the KenPom computer rankings.
FSU (1-5) fell behind by double figures in the first half, suffering from 16 turnovers (against 12 assists) and shot only 36.4 percent (20 of 55) from the floor. The Seminoles were also 4 of 15 (26.7 percent) from 3-point range as Darin Green Jr. shot 1 of 7 from beyond the arc.
A team that has been trying to figure out rotations was again adjusting on Thursday. Center Naheem McLeod was ejected for throwing an elbow late in the first half. Freshman Cameron Corhen played 23 minutes, scoring seven points and pulling down two rebounds.
Caleb Mills had nine of his 11 points in the second half. He fouled out with 3:42 to go.
The Seminoles have opened with losses to Stetson (250th in KenPom), UCF (68), Troy (158), Florida (36) and Siena. But this was the most lopsided of the five defeats and the games don’t get an easier.
Up next
FSU will play Stanford on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The game is slated to air on ESPN News.