Florida State Blown Out On the Road By the Florida Gators, 89-68

The Seminoles stumbled out of the gate and were run over by the Gators in Gainesville.

Well, it was not a fun game. 

Florida State's offense could never get in a rhythm early, and by the time they were able to try and stabilize themselves, they were already down 30. The offense looked discombobulated early on, with little to no movement or aggressiveness, and Florida's offense was making some tough contested shots and never slowed down once FSU's defense started cracking. 

NoleGameday Staff Score Predictions: Florida State Seminoles vs. North Alabama Lions

These two teams aren't as far apart as the final score would indicate. Florida State desperately missed Jaylan Gainey on the glass, and the Seminoles did a great job in the turnover department, but Florida's shot-making and FSU's lack of shots made was way too much to overcome. 

FSU was down 52-22 at halftime, and despite outscoring the Gators 46-37 in the second half, it was unrealistic to think they could ever get close to getting back into the game, and they'd lose 89-68. There are still 28 more games, and this team will be fine going forward. 

Florida vs Florida State Box Score November 2023, UF Wins 89-68 / Florida StatBroadcast

Let's start with the good, the little that was there. Florida State dominated the turnovers, winning that battle 20-10. 9 times out of 10 with a turnover margin like that, Florida State is the one running away with the game, not their opponent. Converting those 20 turnovers into 17 points needed to be better; they weren't finishing on the other end in transition like they needed to. Turning a team over on 28.2% of possessions usually means good things, but Florida was still scoring as 57.7% of UF's possessions ended in a score. That leaves just around 14.3% of possessions ending in a defensive rebound on a UF possession. 

Cameron Corhen and Jamir Watkins never stopped competing, and in games that are ugly early, that's an encouraging sign. Somehow FSU finished with more points in the paint than Florida, something I wouldn't have foreseen heading into this game. It helped that all of UF's bigs were in foul trouble early so they weren't really contesting things at the rim more than they could have, yet FSU was just 18/32 on dunks and layups. 

Now for the bad: both teams shooting 30+ free throws is just gross. No one wants to watch 67 attempted free throws in a basketball game. And neither team shot it particularly well, with FSU being a putrid 18/31 and UF being only slightly better at 22/36. 

The real disparity came from the 3-point line, where FSU went 2/13 to UF's 7/18. Coming into the game the story was flipped for both teams, where UF was struggling to hit 3s and struggling to defend them, while FSU was hitting them and defending them at an elite level. Wasn't the case in this game. I thought for the most part FSU was defending them well, but when Riley Kugel has one that hits the front of the rim, bounces off the backboard, and then goes in, you just know it's going to be one of those nights. 

It was an ugly showing for Baba Miller: just 2 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes played, he was dealing with foul trouble throughout the whole game. Darin Green Jr had a rough outing too, just 4 points on 1/9 shooting from the floor. 

Walter Clayton Jr led all scorers with 19 points before fouling out. He got back into a rhythm after an up-and-down start to the season. Riley Kugel started hot, but finished just 2/9 from the floor and didn't score in the second half. Zyon Pullin, in his first game for the Gators, finished with 15 points

I don't think these teams are as far apart talent-wise as the final score shows, but FSU has to find ways to get consistent offense when Darin Green isn't hitting his shots. They should be fine moving forward, and will have a great opportunity to bounce back next week in the Sunshine Slam. This team is much better than last year's, and while tonight's showing may not prove that, they'll be better. 

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