Cold first half dooms FSU, lose 82-77

After the offense was able to do pretty much anything it wanted in the first two games, things got ugly quick in game three. The Noles were unable to get anything going in transition, and the half court offense was stale against Hofstra's zone. Florida State missed all 10 3-pt attempts in the first half. The one bright spot was Boris Bojanovsky, who had nine points before the break.

Hofstra, meanwhile, was hot from the arc, making 7-15 in the first half. Somehow Florida State kept losing the Pride's best shooter, and Brian Bernardi made them pay, knocking down 5-6 3s.

At halftime it was 41-35 Hofstra.

In the second half FSU repeatedly made runs to close the game to one possession, only to shoot themselves in the foot. Careless turnovers, quick shots, and the inability to get stops kept killing any momentum. For the game Hofstra only grabbed 29% of their own misses, but each one seemed to come at a critical juncture.

Malik Beasley was the 2nd half star for FSU, scoring 18 points on 4-5 3s. It was his 3-ball off of a Boris Bojanovsky steal the cut Hofstra's lead to two with just over a minute left.

The next play was bizarre, to say the least. FSU pressed and Xavier Rathan-Mayes played great defense, forcing the ball handler out of play. The Hofstra player bounced the ball off of XRM and out of bounds, but replay showed that the ballhandler's foot came down out of bounds before he threw the ball off of FSU. The refs took a long look at it, and decided that there wasn't conclusive evidence, and awarded the ball to Hofstra.

FSU got the stop they needed on the next possession, but Hofstra corralled a long rebound and FSU had to start fouling. Hofstra made just enough, and XRM's three in the final seconds was off. The Pride iced the game from the line.

The final was 82-77.

Malik Beasley led FSU with 25 points, his 3rd straight game with 20+. Bojo and Devon Bookert each had 11, and XRM had 10.

Hofstra has a very good offense, and giving up 82 points in 78 or so possessions isn't a big deal. But failing to score a point per possession versus a bad defense shows how far this team has to go if an opponent can take away the transition game.

The loss drops the Noles out of the winner's bracket, and they'll face the loser of South Carolina - DePaul tomorrow at 6:30.