Florida State basketball (8-12, 1-6 ACC) fought valiantly, but didn’t have enough in the tank to finish the game with a road win over the SMU Mustangs (15-5, 4-3 ACC).
FSU fell to SMU 83-80, but had a chance to tie it with fewer than five seconds remaining. FSU’s Luke Loucks tried to draw up a play to get a three-point shot off, but FSU had a problem inbounding the ball and squandered the opportunity.
FSU trailed 46-34 at halftime, after a woeful first half where they shot 30 percent and were only 3 of 18 from three-point land. SMU made eight three point shots in the first half. However, FSU started the second half on fire, eventually taking the lead after a 16-3 run. They led by one point with three minutes remaining.
Rob with the MONSTER jam!!!#Connected pic.twitter.com/BlzblhVnIr
— Florida State Men’s Basketball (@FSUHoops) January 24, 2026
FSU needs more of this instead of taking so many three point shots
FSU made seven of 14 three-point attempts in the second half. They outrebounded the Mustangs, had more points off their turnovers, and only turned the ball over eight times. FSU had more points in the paint, but the biggest difference in the game was that SMU shot 23 free throws, making 17. FSU only shot 15 free throws and made 10. FSU lost by three points.
It continues to go back to my theory of FSU relying on the three-point shot too much. If they had taken fewer three-point shots in the first half, they may have had a better shot at winning the game. The percentage they make three-point shots leads to too many empty possessions.
Nevertheless, it was good to see the guys competing against one of the better teams in the ACC. I’m not much for moral victories, but it’s better than some of the non-competitive games we’ve seen from FSU at times this year.