No. 15 FSU basketball steals win from No. 19 Purdue

The Seminoles and Boilermakers went back and forth for the first 10:36, with the score tied at 17. FSU’s pressure caused trouble for Carsen Edwards and the Boilermakers, leading to 9 first half turnovers. Florida State’s zone press helped the ’Noles build a 44-32 halftime lead, with 13 points off PU turnovers. On offense, FSU was able to effectively drive to the basket and crashed the boards for 11 second chance points.

Carsen Edwards had 13 points on 4 of 13 shooting from the field and went 4 of 4 from the line in the first half. Coach Hamilton used pretty much everyone to guard him, and the ’Noles mostly held the National Player of the Year candidate in check over the first 20 minutes. Ryan Cline connected on 3-6 from deep, but the rest of the Boilermakers only connected on 1-11 from 3-point range in the first half.

The second half started strong for the Boilermakers as Edwards and company stormed back and had a 58-53 lead at the under-12 timeout. Purdue use much more physical play to put the ’Noles on their heels. The under-8 timeout saw the lead stay at five, with Purdue up 67-62. FSU struggled finding good shots in the half court and too often settled for bad threes. However, things got much more interesting the rest of the way.

M.J. Walker connected on a huge three to cut the lead to three with just under 3 minutes to go. About 30 seconds later, after holding Purdue on the other end, Walker was fouled on a three point attempt and hit 2-3 to cut the lead to 72-71 with 2:15 to go. After both teams turned it over on consecutive possessions, Savoy sent Edwards to the line for two. A 92% free throw shooter (23-25) coming into the game, Edwards missed both, and Terance Mann grabbed the rebound.

After a timeout, the ’Noles were unable to convert on a Savoy three pointer (just 2-11 on the night). Edwards got the rebound, but Florida State stole the ball, only to see Trent Forrest turn it back over with just :20 left on the game clock. Instead of fouling right away, FSU went for a steal, & Forrest was able to get a held ball, giving the Seminoles the ball back on the alternating possession.

After a timeout, Mann looked to drive, but gave the ball to Forrest who nailed a floater to take the lead.

Purdue called a timeout with just five seconds remaining, now down one to the Noles. The Boilermakers tried to get it in to Edwards, but the FSU staff wisely called for a double-team. Purdue threw it in to Matt Haarms, instead, who gave it off to Cline. The sharpshooter attempted a cross-court pass, but Forrest got another steal, sealing a 73-72 victory and a tie for the ACC in the annual ACC-Big 10 Challenge.

Edwards led all scorers with 24, followed by Kline with 21 on 7-11 from deep. Evan Boudreaux added 13. The Boilermakers finished the game shooting 43.1% from the field and 36.7% from three.

M.J. Walker led the Seminoles with 13 points (all in 2nd half). Four ’Noles (Forrest, Savoy, Mann, and David Nichols) scored 9. Mann also recorded 8 rebounds. It took a total team effort for Florida State to pull this one out and secure a big time out of conference win.

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