Florida State stage second half surge to close out Syracuse

The Florida State Seminoles never looked back after coming out of the gates shooting lights out against the Syracuse Orange and taking down Cuse 80-62.

The Noles (17-5, 5-4) started out red hot from beyond the arc, sinking seven of their first 9 three-pointers. Florida State also forced Syracuse (17-7, 7-3) to play at their pace, which resulted in a handful of turnovers by the Orange and several second-chance points for the Noles. With 5:58 to go in the first half, the Seminoles built the lead to 36-14 before the Orange went on a 17-3 run of their own to close out the half.

The Orange took command early after the intermission and trimmed the lead down to 52-55, but Florida State clamped down on defense in the final 10 minutes and shut Syracuse down. The Noles played with tremendous hustle to close out the game. They outscored the Orange 29-4 in transition. Florida State went on a 10-0 extended run to bring the lead back up to 13, and Syracuse had zero answers for the stifling Seminole defense.

Senior guard Terance Mann was unstoppable down the stretch. He led the Seminoles with 22 on 8-9 shooting, nine rebounds and two steals. Forward Mfiondu Kabengele also played tremendously well. He totaled 18 points and 8 boards in 28 minutes.

After the game, Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim credited the Seminoles tempo and defensive effort.

“We had to use so much energy,” he said. “We made an unbelievable comeback to get back, but I think we just ran out of gas. They’re really good. They shot 50 percent and we shot 25 percent. We had nothing left at the end there.”

Tyus Battle led the way with 23 points on 8-15 shooting. Elijah Hughes added 17 points.

For the second straight game, Oshae Brissett finished with a double-double. He had 16 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.

Buddy Boeheim scored six points. Although he struggled from the perimeter, he found success attacking the hoop.