FSU fights but falls short on the road vs. SMU

Florida State, fresh off its first road and ACC win of the Luke Loucks era following a win over the Miami Hurricanes, looked to keep things rolling on Saturday as it made its first-ever trip to Moody Coliseum to take on the SMU Mustangs.

The two teams were relatively equal for the bulk of the first half before a late SMU run gave the Mustangs a 12-point lead at halftime. FSU, undeterred, closed the gap with a strong second half to set up a back-and-forth finish.

Florida State was unable to finish off the comeback, however, seeing its chance to steal a win slip away in the closing seconds and falling to the Mustangs 83-80.

First half

Florida State fell behind 8-0 early, failing to capitalize on multiple offensive rebounds on its first possession and not scoring its first basket until nearly five minutes into the matchup.

The Seminoles settled in after that first score, closing the gap and getting within one point by the 12-minute mark before SMU hit its second three-pointer of the half to go up 17-13. The Mustangs were 2-7 shooting the three early on while FSU, comparatively, was 0-6 from beyond the arc at that point in the matchup.

FSU would eventually turn that to a 1-8 mark, once again pulling within one after Martin Somerville nailed the first Seminoles’ three — which, after a foul, turned into a four-point play to tie things up. Florida State subsequently took its first lead of the game off a second Somerville trey, making it 20-17 with 9:36 left in the half.

The two teams went back and forth and swapped leads over the proceeding minutes, neither team going out by more than three points until 5:18 left in the half when SMU hit a three to go up four — FSU returned the favor with a Chauncey Wiggins three-pointer, though SMU once again hit from beyond the arc to once go up by four, now at a 31-27 score.

Florida State wasn’t able to go blow-for-blow this time around, however, and the Mustangs proceeded to string together an 11-2 run to shoot out ahead 42-39, temporarily pushing that lead to 14 before a pair of LaJae Jones with 22 seconds left made it a 46-34 game.

As in many cases this year, Florida State’s inability to consistently hit shots from the three-point line, despite its reliance on it, made the difference. The Seminoles went just 3-18 (16.7%) from three and 11-37 (30%) from the field in the first half, while SMU was 8-23 (34.8%) and 15-39 (38%). FSU committed four first-half turnovers and led for just 2:13 of play.

Second half

The Seminoles came out determined in the second, with a dynamic Robert McCray slam kicking off a 6-0 run to cut the Mustangs’ lead to seven. McCray had just four points in the first half but scored seven in the first three minutes of the second, a three-point shot giving the Seminoles an additional boost after SMU temporarily pushed its lead back out to nine. Buckets by Alex Steen and Jones had the Seminoles suddenly within two as FSU outscored the Mustangs 16-3 to make it 49-47.

SMU, who hadn’t turned the ball over once in the first, gave up its third of the second off an inbound, which FSU promptly turned into a Jones three and its first lead of the half. SMU took it back off a three of its own, the first points of a 6-0 run to go back out ahead 56-50. Florida State broke up that run after Cam Miles became the fifth FSU player to hit a three, the Seminoles once again closing the gap and eventually taking the lead with baskets from Steen and McCray.

That lead was, once again, short for this world as SMU went back up one off a pair of free throws, leading 58-57. Steen, fouled on the other end, hit one of two to tie things up with 10:09 remaining. Over the next four minutes, the game alternated between tied and SMU leading — McCray throwing down another major dunk and adding a fastbreak bucket to boot, Wiggins throwing down a dunk of his own and, after a Mustangs three put them ahead 67-64, Somerville hit another trey to level things up once more.

McCray’s second-half heroics continued on the ensuing possession, intercepting an inbound pass and taking it the other way to make it a 69-67 Florida State lead — though SMU tied it up on its next possession.

Jones hit his second three of the game to push the Seminoles out ahead 72-69 with 3:58 in the game. Back-to-back-to-back baskets and a made free throw from SMU put the Mustangs up out ahead 76-72 before a third Jones three made it a one-point game with 1:22 left.

SMU pushed its lead out to three and FSU was unable to cut into it as Thomas Bassong went 0-2 from the charity stripe. FSU was forced to foul, with SMU going 1-2 to make it 79-75 with 38 seconds remaining. SMU, with fouls to give, shaved 10 seconds off the clock before McCray hit a layup, but an alley-oop that could have been finished off by two separate Mustangs kept the margin at four. FSU refused to pack it in, with Jones hitting another three to make it 81-80 with 15 seconds in the game. The Seminoles managed to foul with 8.3 left, SMU hitting both free throw shots to make it a three-point game.

SMU managed to foul McCray before he was able to get a three-point shot off, officially putting the Mustangs in the bonus. McCray missed the shot, and, after a jump ball and FSU timeout, the Seminoles missed its opportunity at another shot and turned it over with .9 on the clock. Luke Loucks objected to the officiating on the floor, but it was for naught, with SMU being able to inbound the ball and end the game at 83-80.

Box score

McCray led FSU in scoring with 21 (10-21 FG, 1-4 from three) with Jones stringing together a double-double (20 points, 12 rebounds) while going 4-8 from the three.

FG%

• FSU: 42%
• SMU: 44%

FGs

• FSU: 30-71
• SMU: 28-63

3FG%

• FSU: 31%
• SMU: 33%

3FGs

• FSU: 10-32
• SMU: 10-30

FT%

• FSU: 67%
• SMU: 74%

FTs

• FSU: 10-15
• SMU: 17-23

TOs

• FSU: 8
• SMU: 7

PtsOffTO

• FSU: 11
• SMU: 10

TotReb

• FSU: 43
• SMU: 38

DefReb

• FSU: 25
• SMU: 25

OffReb

• FSU: 18
• SMU: 13

2ndChPts

• FSU: 16
• SMU: 11

BenchPts

• FSU: 16
• SMU: 10

PtsPaint

• FSU: 38
• SMU: 28

FstBkPt

• FSU: 11
• SMU: 4

Blocks

• FSU: 4
• SMU: 4

Steals

• FSU: 6
• SMU: 6

Assts

• FSU: 16
• SMU: 17

Times Tied

• 10

Time Tied

• 6:33

Lead Changes

• 12

Lead Time

• FSU: 4:48
• SMU: 28:39

Next game

Florida State returns home to host Cal for the first time ever on Wednesday, January 28 at 7 p.m., the matchup serving as just the third overall (1-1) between the two schools.