FSU Basketball embarrassed at home by Virginia Tech, 76-66
![Jan 29, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles guard Justin Thomas (25) drives to the net past Virginia Tech Hokies guard Brandon Rechsteiner (7) during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images Jan 29, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles guard Justin Thomas (25) drives to the net past Virginia Tech Hokies guard Brandon Rechsteiner (7) during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3684,h_2072,x_423,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/nole_gameday/01jjtenhd7jhvrfn0c7q.jpg)
Florida State returned from a disappointing two-game West Coast trip, looking to rebound at home against a sinking Virginia Tech team. They should've been motivated to get back on track.
But they sure didn't look that way to start the game. The first half was arguably the worst offensive performance I've ever seen from Florida State. When Christian Nitu is taking a one-dribble pull-up three with 20 seconds on the shot clock, things have gone wrong. And news flash, things went wrong.
At halftime, Virginia Tech was leading 35-15 following a contested banked-in three by Jaydon Young. The Hokies weren't even shooting the ball that well, shooting just 6/19 from three and 40% from the floor overall, but Florida State couldn't do a single thing right in the first 20 minutes. Jamir Watkins had just two points on 1/7 shooting; ditto for Malique Ewin on 1/4 shooting. Taylor Bol Bowen was FSU's leading scorer at the half with four points. They couldn't make inside shots (3/8 on layups/dunks), couldn't take care of the ball (six turnovers), couldn't see skip passes, couldn't move the ball... It was an embarrassing first 20 minutes for the Seminoles.
Florida State showed a little energy in the second half, using an 8-0 run to get the lead down to 14 by the first media timeout. They continued to chip away as the half progressed, using elite defense and ball pressure to create easy offense, and soon after the under-twelve timeout, the lead was back down to nine.
The lead would get cut to six, with FSU on the verge of really making things interesting, but they missed the front end of two 1-and-1 opportunities, and Virginia Tech hit a few threes to quickly push the lead back to 16 with less than six minutes to go. While FSU would show a little fight, it wouldn't be enough, and they'd drop their worst game of the season, falling to Virginia Tech 76-66.
Florida State actually made more shots than Virginia Tech (25 to 24), but VT made 10 more FTs and two more three-pointers. This could've been a game if FSU showed any signs of life in the first half.
Taylor Bol Bowen was FSU's best player, finishing with 14 points and 9 rebounds, followed closely by Jerry Deng's 13 points. Jamir Watkins had just nine points on 4/13 shooting, and Malique Ewin was nowhere to be found, finishing with two points on 1/4 shooting.
Virginia Tech was led by the ultra-athletic Tobi Lawal, who finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds (six offensive), followed by Jaden Schutt with 16 points.
Florida State will be on the road to play Boston College on Saturday.
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1. Horrible First Half Energy
No one looked awake in the first half; I don't know any other way to describe it. Virginia Tech's defensive priority was to not let Malique Ewin get the ball off of screens, sending extra help from the corners to completely take the interior pass away. That left the corners open on skip passes, but FSU's ball-handlers never saw them. Florida State looked confused about how to attack VT's defense, something you never want to see 20 games into the season. If they even just had a bad half and not the worst half I've ever seen, they would've been able to make things interesting at the end. No one is going to win any games shooting just 6/28 in a half.
2. No-Show From Malique Ewin
This was Ewin's worst game of the season, and it wasn't particularly close. Even when he got the ball down low, he missed open opportunities at the rim; then, he'd take unnecessary gambles on defense, putting himself and everyone else out of position. He's a good player, but this was a bad, bad showing from him, as he finished with two points (1/4 shooting), three rebounds, and two fouls.
3. Not Enough Turnovers
Florida State was one of the best teams in the ACC at forcing turnovers, and Virginia Tech was the worst at protecting the basketball, yet they finished the game with just 10 turnovers. Virginia Tech had more steals than FSU, something I would've never expected coming into this game. Although it wasn't the biggest issue for FSU's offense, they thrive off creating turnovers and getting out in transition, and while they finished with 17 points off turnovers, they didn't create nearly enough of them.
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