FSU Basketball survives first round scare, beats Vermont in NCAA opener

FSU basketball was given all they could handle in their opening game, but was able to put the Catamounts away late to move on to Saturday’s 2nd round.

Over 1,200 miles away from their campus and playing a double digit seed from much closer and playing with a chip on there shoulder, the FSU basketball team realized very early on that they were not going to be able to walk over their foes in the opener of the NCAA tournament on Thursday.

Without Phil Cofer, who arrived at the arena in a boot, and watching their foes sink seemingly everything from beyond the arc, the No. 4 seeded Seminoles needed second half magic to escape with a 76-69 victory over No. 14 seeded Vermont in Hartford, CT.

In the first half, it was a story of streaks for both teams as the Catamounts hit back to back to back three pointers and had a nine point lead and everyone’s attention. The Seminoles woke up and scored the game’s next 14 points – including seven straight free throws – and had the lead before Vermont hit two more threes and the game was tied at the half.

The Catamounts retook the lead to start things off – stop me if you’ve heard this before – on a  three pointer as FSU basketball had to work to retake the lead thanks to a thunderous dunk from senior Terance Mann, who was playing just 100 miles from his Massachusetts hometown.

The teams continued to exchange the lead – with Mann having to leave the game briefly after being poked in the eye – FSU basketball took a five point lead on a grown man’s dunk from Mfiondu Kabengele.

Vermont wouldn’t go away as the half continued before the Seminoles started to pull away with an eight point lead thanks to three straight layups from Mann and M.J. Walker to give them what was at that point their largest lead of the game.

With under four minutes to go, the Seminoles were able to hold off a last second push from the Catamounts and escape the first round despite shooting under 40 percent from the field and just 25 percent from behind the three point line.

The story of the game for the Noles would be how the free throw lined saved the day with a total of 31 points from the charity stripe, including 24 in the second half – while Vermont stayed in the game all day by hitting a total of 16 three pointers.

The Noles now move on to the second round on Saturday, where they will play the winner of the game between No. 5 seed Marquette and No. 12 seed Murray State with a chance to move on to the second weekend of the tournament for the sixth time in 17 appearances.