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ZACHARY SPAINThe Seminoles shake off a slow start to defeat Wagner and remain unbeaten.
TALLAHASSEE - When Florida State went into the locker room at halftime leading by just seven points over winless Wagner Thursday night, the Seminoles made it a point not to let the game slip away.
There was plenty on the line. FSU had a homecourt to protect, confidence to maintain going into its first extended road trip and a start to keep unblemished.
After regrouping and re-establishing their goals, the Seminoles responded with an 18-0 scoring run to start the second half on the way to an 83-62 win at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center.
Accomplished among those goals were Florida State's longest winning-streak (nine) since 1979 and the best start in the 58-year history of FSU basketball at 9-0.
"In the second half I thought we came out and played with, really, a lot of pride," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.
Wagner (0-6) was able to stay close to end the opening half, despite shooting just 32 percent, as the Seminoles made just seven of their last 22 shots after leading by as many as 13.
But it was a pride-fueled elevation in defensive intensity that took over. In the first 5:50 after halftime during which FSU made its game-clinching run, the Seminoles forced Wagner into nine turnovers - two more giveaways than the Seahawks had all first half - and held them to just three shots, all from behind the 3-point line and all misses.
"We let them come in and they kind of controlled the first half," point guard Nate Johnson said. "(This) was a game where we had the chance to become the first team to be 9-0. We knew we couldn't let them hang around too much longer."
Meanwhile, FSU cut down on miscues of its own, turning the ball over just five times in the second half and 11 times in the game, well below the Seminoles' 16.6 per game average. In Florida State's last game, a 67-58 road victory over Miami, the Seminoles had 21 turnovers.
"I thought they made a concerted effort to take care of the ball," Hamilton said. "They cut their turnovers in half from the Miami game."
On offense, FSU found itself the most potent working from inbound sets from the baseline. Senior guard Tim Pickett hit a 3-pointer from the left corner off of an inbounds pass from the right side and Michael Joiner, Adam Waleskowski and Alexander Johnson each had easy baskets on cuts through the lane.
Pickett led all scorers with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including four 3-pointers. Forward Anthony Richardson had 12 points and Johnson, a freshman who has emerged as the Seminoles best post player, scored 10.
The win was Florida State's second as part of the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic. The Seminoles beat Georgetown (Ky.) College on Nov. 24 and finish the round-robin tournament with games in Pittsburgh against Chicago State (Dec. 20) and No. 18 Pittsburgh (Dec. 22), leaving little time to celebrate.