FSU basketball started the Luke Loucks era with a 108-76 blowout win over Alcorn State on Tuesday night in the Tucker Center. Alcorn State isn’t some great team, but it was a fun game, with FSU scoring from long range and in the paint.
The Noles led 58-44 at halftime. FSU was led in scoring by Chauncey Wiggins with 22 points, and Robert McCray set the FSU all-time assists in a game record with 17. He also chipped in with 12 points. Lajae Jones had 18, and Alex Steen had 12.
Major Takeaways
FSU shot well from the field overall at 55.7 percent, and 43.3 percent from three-point range. FSU had 42.8 percent of its shots come from beyond the arc. They only shot 68 percent from three free throw line, but did a good job of getting to the line with 25 attempts. They only turned the ball over eight times, which is outstanding given the number of possessions they had in the game.
Defensively, FSU turned Alcorn State over 21 times, resulting in 27 points. However, Alcorn State shot 51 percent overall and 50 percent from three-point land. That’s something FSU will need to improve on drastically because Alcorn State had too many uncontested shots.
FSU sent Alcorn State to the free-throw line 27 times. That’s a bit too much, but they’ll probably have more fouls called when they’re playing aggressively and trapping on defense.
The game was fun to watch, and it’s clear the Noles will put up points this year. We saw that in the two exhibition games. How well they shot from three-point land and how well they defend will likely determine how well they do in year one under Luke Loucks. He has done a good job of putting together a product that’s easy to root for so far. They will be back in action on Friday night against Alabama State. The game will start at 7 p.m. ET and will air on the ACCNX channel.