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For about 44 minutes and 58 seconds Wednesday night, it felt like this was the type of game that might cause Florida State's stellar home win streak to finally come crashing down.

The crowd was reduced to 2,956 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The battle-tested visiting team saw its best player deliver a seemingly superhuman performance.

The home team suffered a number of self-inflicted wounds and seemed to endure a rash of tough breaks at key moments.

And it was just the second game of the post-Trent Forrest era. So there were legitimate questions about who might be able to lead the Seminoles through any tough periods and make winning plays down the stretch.

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For every one of those reasons -- if not for the quality of the overall performance -- Florida State's 69-67 overtime victory against visiting Indiana on Wednesday was a sight to behold.

The offense appeared rudderless at times. The defense had a stunningly tough night against Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. And yet somehow, Leonard Hamilton's team found a way to extend its home win streak to 25 straight games, and its non-conference home win streak to 40.

While mixing in several new faces and establishing new roles across the lineup, the Seminoles did exactly what they always do at the Tucker Center: They won the game. Even if they sometimes looked ragged doing it.

"They exposed some of our shortcomings, or inexperienced play, at this point," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said of the Hoosiers, noting that Indiana was playing its fifth game of the season while the Seminoles were only on their second.

That certainly explains some of FSU's struggles.

It's extremely rare for Hamilton's "Junkyard D" defense to allow an opposing big man to go off offensively, yet Jackson-Davis delivered a spectacular performance. The 6-foot-9 forward connected on 8 of 15 shots from the field and 9 of 12 attempts from the free-throw line to finish with a game-high 25 points. He also grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds and blocked two shots.

Hamilton gave the Indiana big man ample credit, but he added that the Seminoles are nowhere near as sound as they'll need to be at that end of the floor.

The same could be said on offense, where FSU seemed to lack the type of flow and rhythm that has been a trademark in recent seasons. The Seminoles only turned the ball over 10 times, which is a positive, but they often seemed unsure of whether to attack the basket, shoot from the perimeter or make extra passes.

That led to too many ill-advised or contested shots.

"That's what happens when you haven't played very many games," Hamilton said. "Your emotions and your adrenaline is flowing. That's why this game is very important for us to be able to win at this stage, when we still are trying to figure out who we are."

That unfamiliarity was likely the same culprit that caused the 'Noles to miss so many free throws against Indiana. FSU has been one of the better free-throw shooting teams in college basketball in recent years, but the Seminoles missed 10 of 21 on Wednesday.

Hamilton believes his players will become more confident at the line and more relaxed on offense, as they continue to play together. He says there have been weeks this preseason when they have shot free throws better than 85 percent as a team, so there's no question in his mind that the physical ability is there.

"We're a really good free-throw shooting team, but we shot 57 percent," Hamilton said.

If the Seminoles had just been decent from the charity stripe, the game likely would have been over in regulation. But it was that kind of night.

The officiating was not particularly kind. The Seminoles had one starter foul out, another was called for four fouls, and four other players had three. Indiana, meanwhile, had only one player with three fouls and one with four.

There also were a number of close plays down the stretch that could have given FSU some breathing room but fell just out of reach.

With FSU leading 67-65 and 1:18 remaining in overtime, senior guard M.J. Walker drove into the paint and scored a basket while apparently being fouled. But instead of going to the line to finish a three-point play that could have given the 'Noles a five-point advantage, Walker was whistled for traveling. No basket.

Then with just under 18 seconds remaining, Walker banked in a 3-pointer that again could have extended the lead to five points and effectively secured the victory. But the senior released that attempt just a split-second after the shot clock expired. Again, no basket.

Even late in regulation, with the game tied at 59, the Seminoles appeared to make a steal that would have given them the ball -- and a potential transition opportunity -- with just over a minute remaining. Instead, the officials ruled it was a held ball, and Indiana took over due to alternating possession. Jackson-Davis then scored on a put-back just seconds later, which forced FSU to come from behind in the final minute.

And the Seminoles did just that, thanks to a huge 3-pointer from Walker that actually gave them a one-point advantage with only 52 seconds remaining. It was one of a number of big plays when FSU needed them most.

Walker had come through just a few moments earlier as well, with a pair of clutch free throws. And that was just a few moments after junior Malik Osborne buried a 3-pointer to give the 'Noles a one-point lead -- it was Osborne's only field goal of the night.

When the dust settled, that was perhaps the most impressive aspect of this victory.

This wasn't a night when everything clicked at either end of the floor. And for awhile, it looked like every close call, and every 50-50 ball, was going to go Indiana's way.

To make matters worse, this was Florida State's first big test without the steady leadership of Forrest running the offense. So many times in recent years, when Hamilton's club needed a clutch basket down the stretch, they were able to count on Forrest to either get to the rim and score, get to the free-throw line, or set up one of his teammates for a great look.

This was FSU's first close game without him in years. And while Forrest's absence was definitely felt, the Seminoles found a way to persevere.

"It showed me that we've got a lot of toughness and will to fight through that," freshman point guard Scottie Barnes said.

Barnes wasn't speaking about himself, but he could have been. After connecting on just one shot from the field in the first half, Barnes went 0-for-5 in the second. He was 1-for-7 at the end of regulation.

Yet with the game on the line, he drilled a 3-pointer to tie things up midway through overtime, and then he delivered the game-winning drive and jump shot with 1.8 seconds remaining.

"It says a lot about his confidence," Hamilton said. "Hopefully there will be better days ahead. Gives you all a little glimpse of what we can expect from him the rest of the year."

Hamilton knows better than anyone that Barnes and this team are only scratching the surface of their potential.

They were able to beat Indiana by coming up with some key plays down the stretch and by displaying impressive resiliency in the face of adversity. They didn't allow the Hoosiers to score a field goal in the game's final 4 minutes and 38 seconds. And after being out-rebounded in regulation, they came up with nine rebounds to Indiana's one in the extra period.

Nine to one. That's incredible.

We'll have to see how quickly the Seminoles can clean up some of their problem areas -- those issues that Hamilton says were “exposed" on Wednesday. Perhaps some will show improvement by this Saturday, when rival Florida rolls into town. Or if not, then maybe early in ACC play.

The Seminoles were able to win the Atlantic Coast Conference one year ago with a combination of elite talent, tremendous chemistry, exceptional execution and hard-nosed grit and determination. It has been the recipe for FSU's success for several years.

We'll have to see how long it takes the chemistry and execution to come along this season, because we already knew the talent was still in place.

On Wednesday, we learned the grit is in bountiful supply as well.

Contact managing editor Ira Schoffel at ira@warchant.com and follow @IraSchoffel on Twitter.

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