The game between Florida State and Georgia Tech was over before the first half even ended. As a result of scoring just 15 points in the first half, the ‘Noles played from behind the entire game in what would turn out to be a 78-56 loss at Georgia Tech.
Florida State’s first half was arguably the worst half of basketball the ‘Noles have played all season. Going into the break, FSU went on a stretch where it missed 18 consecutive shots —- yes, 18. The only points FSU scored in the final 10:16 of that opening half was a put back dunk with 36 seconds remaining by Forward Phil Cofer and two Trent Forrest free throws.
Oh, and through 20 minutes, FSU guard Dwayne Bacon scored more points for Georgia Tech than the ‘Noles after tipping a missed shot into his own basket.
The score was 41-15 in favor of GT heading into the locker rooms. Yellow Jackets’ guard Josh Okogie outscored the Seminoles by himself, with 17 points on 6-10 shooting.
FSU shot 6-35 (17.1%) compared to Tech’s 14-31 (45.2%) allowing the Jackets to take its commanding lead.
In the second half, the play from Florida State was better, but still not good enough to overcome that 26 point halftime deficit. It improved on its points scored, racking up 41 points, however Georgia Tech kept pace, not allowing its lead to dip below 18.
Bacon extended his streak of scoring 10+ points, making it 31 after 12 points at Georgia Tech. He was the only Seminoles player to score double-digits. Forward Jonathan Isaac added six as the duo shot a combined 7-25 from the field.
Leading GT was Okogie with 35 points on 10-17 shooting. Okogie hit more free throws by himself (14-17) than the opposing Seminoles team (10-16).
Georgia Tech (11-8, 4-4) built it’s lead off of making its shots, both from the floor and the line, as well as controlling the paint. It shot 26-61 (42.6%) from the field and 21-31 (67.7% from the line, compared to Florida State’s 20-71 (28.2%) mark.
Beside’s Bacon, FSU shot 3-18 from behind-the-arc.
In the paint, GT outscored FSU 36-22 and controlled the key throughout the game. The teams’ both had 14 offensive rebounds, but the Yellow Jackets turned those opportunities into 16 second chance points.
Rebounding also went in favor of GT who hauled in 53 missed shots compared to FSU’s 39. However that is mostly attributed to the amount of shots missed by FSU.
One bright spot for Florida State was the nine turnovers it committed, a large improvement over the previous three games.
The Seminoles (18-3, 6-2) look to rebound at the Carrier Dome where it faces Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.