Major takeaways from FSU blowout win over Cal State Bakersfield

Florida State basketball (5-1) made it three consecutive wins with a blowout over Cal State Bakersfield (3-4) in front of the home crowd on Tuesday night. FSU led 35-24 at the half, and poured it on in the second half with a 54-point barrage to win 89-59 to easily cover the spread.

Chauncey Wiggins led all FSU scorers with 17 points, Robert McCray had 14, and Martin Somerville had 14 off the bench. Alex Steen chipped in with a double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Main Takeaways

FSU didn’t shoot it well from the three-point line, only making 8-32 (25 percent). They still take too many threes for my liking, but it’ll likely cost them against a better team when they don’t shoot it well. However, they performed well at the charity stripe, making 23 of 29 and generating 40 points off 28 forced turnovers.

FSU shot 21 of 33 (63.6 percent) from inside the three-point line. Maybe, just maybe, they don’t need to take 30+ three-pointers in every single game? I like what Loucks is doing overall, but I’d like a bit more diversity in the offense in the event they have an off shooting night.

FSU had 17 turnovers, which is uncharacteristic, and were only +1 overall on the boards. FSU’s defense was the difference in the game, as Cal State shot 39 percent from the field and were only 1 of 10 from the three-point line. They were 16 of 26 from the charity stripe, which we mentioned they didn’t shoot well in the game preview.

FSU will play the Texas A&M Aggies on Friday evening at 5 p.m. in Tampa, Florida. The game will air on ESPN2.