FSU Basketball Falls to Nebraska

The FSU basketball team sunk below the .500 mark once again this season, dropping its ACC/Big Ten Challenge game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a final score of 70-65 before a capacity crowd of brand-new garnet seats at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee.

The ‘Noles started well enough, as point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes found Kiel Turpin at point-blank range for the Seminoles’ first three field goals. And after going down 13-7, the ‘Noles fought back and actually took a 14-13 lead after bigs Michael Ojo and Boris Bojanovsky disrupted the Nebraska attack on the inside.

But the ‘Huskers brought some heat with them from chilly Lincoln, displaying a fine shooting tough in a brutal first half that featured an 18-1 Nebraska run. The Cornhuskers used 5-11 first-half three-point shooting (compared to just 0-10 for FSU) to claim a 37-21 halftime advantage, despite the return of FSU star Aaron Thomas after a still-mysterious two-game absence. Thomas never really got into his groove in this one and finished with 11 points on 2-6 shooting.

Florida State found some life early in the second half and widdled away at the ‘Husker lead, courtesy of the fast break and some nice hustle, particularly on behalf of Bojanovsky, who’s serving as somewhat of a spark plug this year for the ‘Noles. His contribution tonight was as formidable as his stature, as he posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.

FSU began the second stanza 7-10 from the field, trimming the deficit to 47-43 with 10:05 to go. The ‘Noles pepped up by moving better away from the ball and attacking the hoop, which was facilitated by Nebraska’s big men picking up their fourth fouls early in the second half. After high-scorer Terran Petteway fouled out with 2:26 left and Tai Webster followed him to the Nebraska bench just seconds later, the ‘Noles cut the deficit to just one, at 62-61, with a little over two minutes remaining.

But a key sequence in which Rathan-Mayes missed a long ball while Nebraska sunk one widened the gap, and the ‘Noles were reduced to the hack-and-hope strategy, which didn’t pan out. What once looked like a blowout ended a close 70-65 Cornhusker victory.

XRM was dynamic in the second half, as his career-best six assists, and team-high 17 points, were a big part of the Seminoles’ comeback; he also chipped in Florida State’s lone three-point makes, but sunk only 2-11 from beyond the arc after going 1-7 against Charleston Southern on Friday night. He also needs to be smarter with the ball, as he accounted for seven turnovers.

Three-point success continues to evade the ‘Noles this season. In their last two tilts, the Seminoles have gone just 4-34: that’s 8.5%.

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Beyond the grit it took to comeback after a lethargic start, Florida State also showed some life on the boards, at last. The ‘Noles out-rebounded Nebraska 41-30. On the other hand, free throws remain a sore spot for this team. Even though FSU made as many freebies as the ‘Huskers attempted (19), it shot just 59% from the charity stripe, compared to the Cornhuskers’ 79%.

Next up for the Seminoles are the University of Central Florida Knights, who will pay a visit to Tallahassee on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.

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