Old habits die hard: Careless Noles lose 78-62

FSU came out of the gate with a great gameplan: use the guards to penetrate and have the big men reap the rewards. Unfortunately, this lasted for about 4 minutes. When the shots weren't falling FSU immediately reverted back to pre-ACC FSU. They reversed the ball with no real plan. They forced passes. They went for the homerun. The Seminole defense kept them in it for a half (24-20), but Miami buried four 3s in the first 5+ minutes of the 2nd half and the game was never closer than 7 after that.

In all, FSU turned the ball over 19 times in a 72 possession game (26.4% of their trips). To complicate matters FSU only converted 21.7% of their 3s (FSU entered as the best 3-pt shooting team in ACC play), while Miami made 45% of theirs. It was the 2nd straight game where FSU opponents shot abnormally well from deep, only this time that isn't what made the difference. Sloppy offense and careless defense were the culprits tonight.

Michael Snaer had his typical excellent game with 20 points and 8 boards (including 5 offensive). Unfortunately, he didn't get much help. Ian Miller had 12 points (off an inefficient 13 shots) and Deividas Dulkys had 10 points, but turned the ball over three times. In all, seven players had at least 2 turnovers.

Now FSU needs to be playing to avoid the 8/9 game. That either means losing everything that's left, or likely winning the final two in ACC play. For starters, FSU has to travel to Virginia in a huge matchup on Thursday.