Florida State desperate to halt slide vs. North Florida

Field Level Media|published: Mon 18th December, 21:39 2023

Dec 2, 2023; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Florida State Seminoles forward Jamir Watkins (2) with the ball as North Carolina Tar Heels forward Harrison Ingram (55) defends in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. credits: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Florida State will have another opportunity at home to end its current losing streak when it hosts North Florida Tuesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.

The Seminoles (4-5) lost the first of a five-game homestand to SMU 68-57 Saturday, when they shot a season-low 31.1 percent from the field that resulted in a season scoring low.

Only two players, Darin Green Jr. and Primo Spears, managed to get into double figures, and they barely did with 10 points apiece.

Spears was playing his first game since a judge in West Virginia issued a temporary restraining order that suspended an NCAA rule that requires players making a second transfer to sit out a season. The NCAA has since extended that suspension of its rule for the rest of the season.

Spears missed his first 10 shots before finishing the game 2-of-14 from the field.

Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said he was "tremendously disappointed" by the loss, which was his team's fourth consecutive setback after a 4-1 start to the season 4-1.

"We have to be more consistent with our energy and our efforts," Hamilton said.

Jamir Watkins leads Florida State in scoring with his 13.2 ppg average. He is shooting 45.6 percent from the field but suffered from the same malady as his teammates with a 2-of-7 effort in the loss to SMU.

North Florida (7-5) comes in riding a modest three-game winning streak after a 113-72 rout of NCCAA member Trinity Baptist on Saturday. Six players scored in double figures for the Ospreys, led by freshman Jasai Miles' 22 points.

Their leading scorers for the season, however, are veteran guards Chaz Lanier (15.6 ppg) and Ametri Ross (11.9).

With the rout of Trinity Baptist, coach Matthew Driscoll picked up his 250th career win and 224th at North Florida. He is 0-7 against the Seminoles, however, and 0-2 this season against power-conference opponents with losses to LSU (75-63) and Iowa (103-78).

He isn't shy about letting his Ospreys let it fly, as they are shooting 35.4 from 3-point range and were 17-of-49 from behind the arc in their last outing.

"We actually should have taken more," Driscoll said, "but we've got to knock in more as well, too."

This will be the first of five consecutive road games overall and first of three in a row against Power 6 foes with trips to Georgia and Miami to follow.

—Field Level Media

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