FSU Basketball: Dwayne Bacon Shines in Tourney Debut Near Hometown
By Jason Parker
FSU basketball got their first tournament win of 2017 thanks to the hot play of Dwayne Bacon, playing less than an hour from his Lakeland home.
Long before he helped lead the FSU basketball team to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in five seasons, Dwayne Bacon was a prep star at both IMG Academy in Florida and Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.
Even before that, Bacon was a prep star in the Central Florida city of Lakeland – an area known more for retirees and spring baseball than producing large amounts of college basketball talent. Still, Bacon came out of the area as one of the top players on the hardwood that the city located between Tampa and Orlando had ever produced.
Because of that, it’s almost appropriate that Bacon had one of his best games of the 2016-17 season in FSU basketball’s tournament opener over Florida Gulf Coast – a game being played less than 50 miles away from his hometown.
“I had a lot of family come to the game. It’s a great experience when your family can come out and watch you play,” Bacon said in the locker room shortly after the Seminoles’ 86-80 win over the Eagles. “A lot of them can’t come to Tallahassee so it’s nice for them to be able to watch.”
What family and friends got to see was an amazing first half, where the sophomore who is likely playing his final games for the Seminoles went eight for 10 shooting in the first 20 minutes, coming up with 16 of the 25 points he would finish the game with. For a player who had been getting attention lately for recent struggles on the court when it came to shooting percentage, this was the Dwayne Bacon that fans have counted on.
Florida State Seminoles Basketball
“I thought he was very efficient the first half. He was under control,” said head coach Leonard Hamilton. “He made good decisions with the ball, and we’re going to need more of that for him as we move through the remainder of the Tournament.”
While Bacon got a chance to play less than an hour from where he grew up, it was another win for a Seminoles team who played much better in front of the home fans as opposed to elsewhere. An undefeated 18-0 record at home, in addition to a 3-0 mark in away and neutral site games, makes FSU basketball very happy that they were selected to play their first two games in Orlando.
“It’s amazing to have the fans out there like the were,” said guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes. “I think it does a great job of creating momentum for us. We’re grateful to have them.”
Bacon and the Seminoles will get a final chance this season to feed off the garnet and gold in the stands when they face Xavier – a team they have played just one time before, all the way back in 1958.