Have we found the eventual leading scorer for this team? Devin Vassell is the only Seminole to score in double figures each of the first four games. Against Chattanooga, the sophomore set new career-highs with 17 points and eight rebounds. He made 3-5 threes, and is now shooting 46% from beyond the arc for the season (43% for his career). There’s a long way to go, but right now, he’s the 5th most accurate long range shooter in Florida State Seminoles history (behind LaRae Davis, Pee Wee Barber, Al Thornton, and George McCloud). He’s also nearly doubled his offensive rebound rate. As a freshman, he grabbed 4.3% of the available offensive boards, while this year it’s been 8.4%.
We’ll check in periodically on Trent Forrest’s climb up the record books for FSU, but his steal vs Chattanooga was his 170th, which is ninth all-time at Florida State (10 behind Chris Singleton). It’s doubtful he’ll catch Charlie Ward or Delvon Arrington, but No. 3 is in certainly in play as he needs 39 steals to catch Bob Sura. He also passed Devon Bookert in assists (13th all-time). He needs 12 more to crack the top-10.
We finally got a good look at Rayquan Evans, and while it’s clear it’ll take a while for him to get back into shape, it’s also clear why the staff is so high on him. His game is a lot like Forrest’s in that he’s disruptive and can fill out a stat sheet. Against the Mocs, he had four steals, two assists, and got to the line a team-best six times in just 14 minutes.
In his post-game interview, Dominik Olejniczak said this was the first game in a long time where he felt 100%. He also raved about fellow big man Balsa Koprivica. The two combined for 20 points on 10-12 shooting and added 10 rebounds. The post presence adds a key dimension to a potentially dangerous team.
FSU won 89-53 in a 71 possession game. It was the best Florida State has played this season, and they showed - especially on offense - how much potential they have. They knocked down 10-25 3s (40%) which is going to be the key moving forward. When teams have to focus on taking away the 3-ball it really opens up the rest of the offense, whether that be the driving ability of several players, or the post-game mentioned above. Last year’s FSU team only scored more than last night’s 1.25 points per possession four times. The defense held the Mocs to 0.74 per possession, which was bettered by last year’s team just twice.
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