Slow start, lots of turnovers doom FSU in ugly loss at B.C.

It was going to be a tough game anyway.

With four starters out, just two nights after playing at Duke, the Florida State men's basketball team had a difficult test waiting on them at Boston College.

And they certainly didn't pass it.

Committing five turnovers on their first six possessions, the Seminoles fell into an early 11-0 hole and never recovered in a 71-55 loss to the Eagles on Monday night.

It was the eighth defeat in nine games for the short-handed Seminoles.

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Box Score: Boston College 71, FSU 55

RayQuan Evans was inserted back into the starting lineup after sitting out the Duke game with an injury, and he turned it over on three of the first possessions. He finished with five turnovers on the day and just three points to go along with zero assists and zero turnovers -- less than a week after he set a career high with 28 points in a win over Clemson.

All told, Florida State (14-13, 7-10 ACC) committed 19 turnovers on the night. And that led to 23 Boston College points. The Seminoles were also just 4-of-19 from 3-point range. They missed their first eight to start the second half.

Even with those disastrous numbers, FSU was actually in the game early in the second half when Evans converted an and-1 to cut the lead to 32-27.

From there, it was all Boston College. Because the Eagles (10-16, 5-11) made some shots, and FSU barely made anything at all.

The Seminoles made just three of their next 15 field goal attempts after the Evans bucket, as the Eagles built up a 20-point lead in the second half.

Florida State never got closer than 13 the rest of the way as the Eagles led from wire to wire for their fifth ACC victory of the season. Both teams came in having lost seven of their last eight games.

Matthew Cleveland led the Seminoles in scoring with 18 points, but it took him 18 shots to get there. He also had a team-high eight rebounds. Cam'Ron Fletcher added 16 points, five rebounds and four steals.

Fellow first-year player Jalen Warley had just five points on 1-of-6 shooting on the night, but he did have six assists and three steals for the Seminoles, who play again Saturday at Virginia.

Florida State once again played without starters Caleb Mills, Malik Osborne, Anthony Polite and Naheem McLeod.

Boston College wound up shooting 48.3 percent from the field and hit 11-of-26 from 3-point range. The Eagles also had a season-high 14 steals.

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