No. 19 FSU men improve to 9-2 with 98-81 victory over North Florida
The barrage of 3-pointers came as expected.
North Florida shot a bunch and made a bunch.
It didn't matter.
Florida State dominated the Ospreys in the paint and on the glass, and seven players scored in double-figures as the Seminoles (9-2) rolled to a 98-81 victory on Tuesday night.
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Box score: No. 19 Florida State 98, North Florida 81
"This team challenged us and stretched all of our defensive fundamentals to the max," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They have a unique, special, challenging style of ball that you have to be on your defensive game to be able to compete against.
"But I thought the quality of our depth took its toll (on North Florida). ... The beginning of the second half, our guys came out with a lot of energy and I thought our guys got some separation."
The Seminoles, who led by nine points at the half, scored a whopping 62 points in the paint. They had 15 layups and six dunks. They also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second-chance points, which more than helped offset the difference in 3-point shooting.
North Florida was 13-of-34 from beyond the arc on Tuesday night. Three different players -- Ivan Gandia-Rosa, Ryan Burkhardt and Garrett Sams -- connected on four 3-pointers on the night for the Ospreys, who shot 46.4 percent overall in the game. They came into Tuesday night leading the nation in both 3-point field goals attempted and 3-point field goals made.
And they hit both of their averages against FSU.
"Those guys, I don't know who their shooting coach is, but those guys knock down shots when they're open," said FSU junior M.J. Walker, who added that the Seminoles did a much better job of contesting shots in the final 20 minutes.
The Ospreys made nine 3s in the first half, but only four in the second. And the Seminoles opened up a lead as large as 21 as UNF just had no answers for the their size, speed, athleticism and depth.
Freshman Balsa Koprivica had 15 points, M.J. Walker had 12 and five different players (Patrick Williams, Trent Forrest, RaiQuan Gray, Dominik Olejniczak and Devin Vassell) had 11 each.
All told, Florida State used 12 players on Tuesday night. Eleven scored. None played more than 27 minutes.
"We try to challenge our players, try to remind them, that the full sum of our parts is what makes us a unique unit," Hamilton said. "We showed signs tonight of giving tremendous effort, playing unselfish and playing pretty good defense."
Florida State recorded 20 assists and 11 steals. Gray had five assists and three steals to lead the team.
Malik Osborne, who didn't play in the first half, led the Seminoles in rebounds with five in just nine minutes of action.
The Seminoles play again on Saturday vs. South Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Fla.
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