For the tenth straight year the FSU Seminoles won their opener. Against a solid Jacksonville team, FSU began the season with a turnover on their very first possession, but then in fitting style held JU scoreless for the first 5:10. Terrance Shannon had his first career double-double with 15 points and 12 boards while FSU won 79-67 in a game that wasn't close for the final 30 minutes. FSU shot 47.1% from three, and 76.7% from the line.
In the preview I stated that FSU's offensive goal should be 1.10 point per possession, and the Noles bettered that slightly (1.14) so it was a good night. Defensively, FSU should have shut this team down but ended up allowing 0.97 points per possession. Part of this was due to Bernard James only playing 15 minutes on the night, and part was due to poor perimeter defense which led to too many team breakdowns. No doubt, Leonard Hamilton will get that corrected.
Michael Snaer and Deividas Dulkys each scored 16 points to lead the Noles, while Luke Loucks had a solid night with 5 points, 6 assists and only 2 turnovers. For the game the Noles turned it over 15 times (21.7%), which isn't impressive. Still, a good win over a solid Jacksonville team.
Next up, a good UCF team on Monday.