FSU Comeback Against NC State Falls Short

The FSU basketball team fell behind NC State early today, and, despite a furious second-half rally, ran out of gas in dropping a 72-63 final to the Wolfpack, the Seminoles’ third-straight defeat.

This one hung largely on the play of junior guard Montay Brandon, a common theme since fellow junior Aaron Thomas was declared ineligible for the season. Florida State looked disorganized early, and struggled to find any rhythm offensively. It wasn’t really turnovers that led to FSU’s first-half deficit that reached 19 points, as is so often the case in Seminole inefficiency, though. In fact, the ‘Noles turned it over just 12 times all day.

When Florida State struggled, it was due to a lack of penetration from Brandon, which sets up so much of the FSU offense, both inside and out. Brandon was rather absent in the first stanza– he failed to register an assist and didn’t take a shot until about 15 minutes in, his lone field goal attempt of the half.

As a result, the offense stagnated, and NC State looked to be on its way to an easy victory up 42-30 at halftime after the ‘Noles trimmed down what was once a 19-point margin. The key to the beginning of the comeback was three-point shooting, which Devon Bookert led by draining all three of his first-half long balls. Wolfpack head coach Mark Gottfried was determined to make someone else beat him, though, as he indicated by saying of Bookert, in the second half, “We tried to locate him on every possession.”

So the Seminoles would need to get it elsewhere. Cue Brandon.

A different No. 32 emerged from the FSU locker room after halftime, and it made all the difference. Brandon flew around with reckless abandon, generating three steals, finishing 6-7 from the floor, sinking his lone three-point attempt, and making 7-8 from the free throw line. He finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, just one board away from his second career double-double.

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And the ‘Noles could have used that board– especially late. After fighting all the way back to force a 60-60 tie at the final media timeout without about four minutes left, FSU’s inability to secure a defensive rebound afforded the ‘Pack ample opportunities to extend several possessions, and they eventually found the bottom of the net. Maybe it was some weary legs after such a valiant comeback, but, on the day, NC State wound up with nearly as many offensive rebounds (18) as Florida State pulled down on the defensive end (20). You’re simply not going to win many games when each shot your opponent takes is essentially a 50-50 ball. Bookert and Brandon summed it up similarly after the game, referring to the Wolfpack’s second — and third — chances as real “momentum killers.”

This brings the ‘Noles back to the .500 mark, at 9-9, and 1-4 in the ACC. They’ll need to get their legs back under them quickly, as they face a quick turn around and play at Clemson on Monday night at 9 pm. Brandon isn’t making any excuses about playing twice in a few days, though: “that’s the ACC– that’s what we signed up for.”

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