FSU advances to Sunshine Slam championship game with win over UNLV

Florida State Seminoles basketball, looking to bounce back from a sloppy performance in a blowout loss to the Florida Gators, took the court at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach on Monday for a matchup against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.

With an 83-75 win, the Seminoles advanced to 3-1 on the season heading into tomorrow’s championship game.

The game, serving as the Seminoles’ opener in the Sunshine Slam Tournament, saw FSU get off to a hot start and lead 9-2 after four minutes of play.

The Seminoles then flirted with double-digit leads throughout the first half, going back up each time UNLV began to find a bit of momentum. The Runnin’ Rebels make it a five-point game with just four seconds left in the half, but a running shot from the logo from Jamir Watkins gave FSU a 42-35 lead heading into halftime.

Wakins excelled for Florida State from start to finish, logging 19 points to go with 8 assists and four rebounds.

The second half saw much of the same — a double-digit Florida State lead occasionally cut into by UNLV, soon separated once again as the Seminoles’ rode major game from Watkins, Cam Corhen (14 points), Cam’Ron Fletcher (6 points, 6 rebounds), Darin Green Jr. (16 points) and De’Ante Green (10 points, 2 rebounds).

What was disappointing was Florida State’s inability to shut down any attack in the paint — UNLV managed to get 71% of its points there, which combined with a seemingly unlimited amount of FSU foul calls supplying a steady stream of trips to the charity stripe for the Runnin’ Rebels. Florida State was whistled for 23 fouls over the course of the game.

Florida State overall shot 63% for the game (42% from three), with UNLV going 57% (22% from three). The Seminoles outrebounded UNLV 27-24 (23-17 on defense, though UNLV held the edge 7-4 on offensive rebounds.)

FSU will next play the winner of tonight’s Colorado - Richmond game in the championship game of the tournament, which tips off at 4 p.m. and will also be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.

Florida State 83, UNLV 75: Final Stats

Field Goal Percentage:

FSU: 63%

UNLV: 57%

Field Goals:

FSU: 32-51

UNLV: 29-51

Three-Point Field Goal Percentage:

FSU: 42%

UNLV: 20%

Three-Point Field Goals:

FSU: 5-12

UNLV: 2-10

Free Throw Percentage:

FSU: 78%

UNLV: 63%

Free Throws:

FSU: 14-18

UNLV: 15-24

Turnovers:

FSU: 15

UNLV: 14

Points Off Turnovers:

FSU: 23

UNLV: 19

Total Rebounds:

FSU: 27

UNLV: 24

Defensive Rebounds:

FSU: 23

UNLV: 17

Offensive Rebounds:

FSU: 4

UNLV: 7

Second Chance Points:

FSU: 4

UNLV: 7

Bench Points:

FSU: 26

UNLV: 21

Points in the Paint:

FSU: 46

UNLV: 54

Fast Break Points:

FSU: 18

UNLV: 9

Blocks:

FSU: 4

UNLV: 2

Steals:

FSU: 8

UNLV: 9

Assists:

FSU: 17

UNLV: 8

Times Tied:

0

Time Tied:

0:52

Lead Changes:

0

Lead Time:

FSU: 39:05

UNLV: 0:00