FSU falls to Troy in a Game of Runs
Basketball is and always will be a game of runs, and Florida State's game against Troy was no exception. Troy would go on a 8-0 run, FSU would respond with a 7-0 run, then Troy would come right back with a 7-0 run of their own, including ending the first half on a 10-1 run. FSU's offense was struggling, much like it was in the UCF game, having spells where they just could not buy a bucket.
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In the first half, FSU had a stretch early on where they didn't score at all for 4+ minutes, then went the last 5 minutes of the first half not making a field goal. They entered the break down 32-25, but had the lead with about 5 minutes left in the half, a much better standing than where they'd been the last couple of games.
The second half was more of the same. The first few minutes were back and forth, with each team hitting two 3s in the opening minutes of the half. Then the runs came. A 7-1 Troy run was followed by a roaring 14-4 run by Florida State, which gave them their first lead since 4:51 remaining in the 1st half, and their first lead in the second half all season. Having been in the bonus since the 14-minute mark definitely helped. Troy came right back on a 12-2 run, though, to take control back of the game and go up 60-52 with 8 minutes left.
Florida State chipped away slowly, point by point, digging down deep, trying to get back in the ball game. The lead would get down to 3 points a few times. First, a 3 by Darin Green Jr with 5:48 left, then again after Caleb Mills hit a smooth runner in the lane to get it to 64-61 with 4:24 left. It would never get closer than that again. Troy would use a 10-2 run in the final two minutes, before Darin Green hit some garbage time 3s to make it look more respectable. Troy would hang on 79-72.
Florida State was more aggressive on the boards tonight, winning the overall rebound battle, but they still let Troy grab 11 offensive rebounds. The real killer was turnovers, as FSU turned it over 19 times on 27% of their possessions leading to 17 Troy points on the other end. Jalen Warley especially was uncharacteristically loose with the basketball, turning it over 7 times tonight. Cam'Ron Fletcher wasn't too much better in this department with 4 turnovers himself.
Fletcher overall was very good though, finishing with his second career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds on 6/10 shooting. His off-ball defense is slowly getting better, just needs to be a little better ball handler, but you can tell he cares and that he wants to do the little stuff. FSU needs more of these.
Darin Green also showed his shooting ability with 24 points, hitting 7 of his 9 3-point attempts. He also had 6 rebounds and 2 assists, but man he can absolutely light it up from distance. I want to see even more sets from him. Caleb Mills also woke up a little bit in the second half to finish with 14 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals, it just wasn't enough.
It might be time to start a conversation on Matthew Cleveland. He was fine in the first game against Stetson, but in the last two games Cleveland has a total of 8 points on 3/8 shooting, 2/4 from the FT line, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, and has fouled out in both games in 47 minutes. He and Tom House are the only two players to not have played 30+ minutes in the last two games. He simply has to be better. While this is a team sport and it can't all fall on one person, he is not helping.
Florida State had 5 players hit 30+ minutes in a regulation game for the first time since February 10, 2014, a 77-73 home loss to Miami, long before FSU switched the way they played going to heavy depth, heavy pressure defense This system simply cannot handle that kind of workload. It's a system that relies on constant substitution and keeping guys fresh. Coach Hamilton constantly says "We can't beat you 1-5, but we CAN beat you 1-10." Right now, Florida State has a 1-6.5. They're not used to playing this way and have to find ways to alleviate the workload.
For Troy, Aamer Muhammed led the way with 23 points on 8/15 shooting, with Christyan Eugene not far behind with 22 points on 6/12 shooting. As a team, Troy was just 6/20 from 3 at halftime but hit timely 3 after timely 3 down the stretch to finish 12/30 as a team at 40%. FSU's defensive rotations were mostly good, but you could tell they were tired down the stretch and were caught out of position a few times.
FSU will now look to get their first win of the season Friday night at home against Florida, who lost at home to FAU most recently. This will not be fun. For a team that had lost just 1 non-conference home game from 2016-2021, they've now lost two straight to start the season. To Stetson and Troy.
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