The Florida State men's basketball team needed about 35 minutes of game time to create some separation Wednesday night against Tulane. But when it finally happened, it happened in a blur.
With the Seminoles leading by just three points and about five minutes to go, sophomore forward Cam'Ron Fletcher delivered an old-fashioned 3-point play to push the advantage to six. Then the Seminoles got back-to-back dunks from Malik Osborne and Fletcher to put the Seminoles ahead by 10 en route to a 59-54 victory.
Caleb Mills led FSU with 13 points, while Fletcher added 11.
FSU improves to 2-1 on the season, while the Green Wave fall to 1-2.
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It was the second consecutive game where Florida State struggled mightily on the offensive side of the floor. The Seminoles, who are mixing in several new faces this season after losing several top scorers from last year's squad, scored just 55 points in a loss this past Sunday at Florida.
"We're in a developing stage right now. That's where we are," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "And that's understandable. We have always had a deep rotation. But we've never had this many first-year guys that need to be consistent in order for us to be successful. So there is some indecision. There is some uncertainty. That's only natural when you have first-year players in your program.
"So that's where we are. We're going to work our way through it."
Even after the Seminoles went ahead by 10 with less than four minutes remaining, Tulane made one more run. Guard Jalen Cook capped off the surge by draining a 3-pointer to make it 57-54 with less than 2 minutes left.
But FSU senior Anthony Polite scored inside to push the lead back to five, and the Seminoles buckled down defensively to keep the Green Wave at bay.
It was only Polite's second made basket after a 1-for-6 start, as he and several other veterans struggled offensively. Senior guard RayQuan Evans went 1-for-8 from the field to score two points, and senior guard Wyatt Wilkes scored three points on 1-of-3 shooting.
"Tonight, it was a little bit of a reverse -- I thought our inexperienced players stepped up and gave us good play, and our veterans obviously did not play as well as we've all seen them play," Hamilton said. "That still gives me a very positive feeling, knowing that I've seen our veterans play well many, many times."
Most of the game was a slog, with both teams struggling to score for very different reasons.
Tulane had a difficult time hitting shots against FSU's length inside -- FSU held a 28-12 advantage in points in the paint -- while the Seminoles had a tough night getting clean looks against the Green Wave matchup zone.
"You've got to give Tulane a lot of credit," Hamilton said. "I thought their zone made us somewhat lethargic. It created some indecision on our part. ... We made just enough plays for us to win."
Florida State's defense was especially stingy in the second half, holding the Green Wave to 18.5 percent shooting after halftime. Of course, FSU's offensive production wasn't a whole lot better -- the Seminoles missed all eight of their 3-pointers in the second period, and they went 4-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Cook led Tulane with 21 points, while guard Jaylen Forbes, an Alabama transfer who was one of the top players in the country coming out of high school, had 14 in the first half. Forbes finished with 15.
Next up for the Seminoles is a neutral-site game against Loyola Marymount on Sunday in Jacksonville.
Stay connected with Warchant for more coverage from this game.
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