FSU Basketball Places 3rd by Beating #15 Baylor

Coach Scott Drew and guard LaceDarius Dunn are shocked as the Noles upset #15 Baylor

The Florida State men’s basketball team played #15 Baylor in the third place game of the Diamond Head Classic Tournament in Hawaii yesterday, and came away with a 68-61 victory to grab their eleventh win of the season and third place in the tournament.

I’ve not been shy in saying that the Noles suffered from poor shooting in most of their games early this season, but last night several players stepped up and led the team to 44.4% field goal shooting on the night.

Forward Chris Singleton had one of his best games this season with another double-double (his fifth of the year) by scoring 17 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and even recording 3 blocks. But in this game, Singleton wasn’t the only Nole scoring big numbers; forward Bernard James added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and guard Derwin Kitchen scored 19 points and pulled in 5 rebounds. Luke Loucks also added 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench.

The game yesterday was only Florida State’s third game against a ranked opponent. FSU lost to #14 Florida 55-51 in November then fell two days later to #2 Ohio State 58-44. The secret to knocking off Baylor?

“Our execution was good, so was our focus and everybody who played tonight contributed,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “We played with an extreme amount of confidence.”

But Florida State didn’t lead the entire game. After being down 20-11, the Noles went on a 26-13 run to close out the first half with a four-point lead. The Seminoles never trailed the rest of the game and put Baylor away late with a 5-0 run with a minute to go.

Florida State’s defense deserves credit for the win as they held Baylor to just 33% percent shooting despite the Bears’ average of 48% field goal shooting on the year (33rd in the nation).

Forward Bernard James notes that the big win gives the Noles the confidence they need heading into a tough conference schedule.

“It’s big for us, especially for our confidence. We’ve played two ranked teams already and we didn’t do so well. This game is going to do wonders for us once we get to conference just because now we know that we can play with and beat a team of that caliber.”

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