Florida State University Athletics
Men’s Basketball Falls to South Carolina 65-66
12/12/2021 2:21:05 PM | Men's Basketball
ROCK HILL, S.C. (seminoles.com) – Malik Osborne led Florida State with 15 points as the Seminoles fell, 66-65, to South Carolina in the inaugural No Room for Racism Classic at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center. Osborne came within one rebound of his fifth career double double with nine rebounds, and redshirt sophomore Caleb Mills scored in double figures with 13 points.
James Reese V and Devin Carter combined for 23 second-half points and South Carolina overcame a 16-point deficit to gain the neutral site win. Carter’s bucket with three minutes left gave the Gamecocks (7-2) the lead for good. South Carolina held on when Malik Osborne missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have given Florida State the win.
The Seminoles went into the locker room up 36-30 despite a six and a half minute field goal scoring drought late in the half. Florida State has led at the half in eight of their nine games this season.
The Seminoles lost their lead following a 12-0 run by the Gamecocks going into the under eight media media timeout in the second half. After a 3-point shot by Osborne and two from the line by Anthony Polite, the game was tied at 61. Florida State’s 7-0 run was interrupted, and the Seminoles were down by one, 66-65, with just 10 seconds to go.
In scoring three from beyond the arc against South Carolina, Osborne is the Seminoles’ leading 3-point shooter this season. The redshirt senior is shooting .538 (14 of 26) from the 3-point line and has made multiple 3-point shots in five of nine games this season.
With two steals this afternoon, Mills has an ACC-high 21 steals this season. He has as many steals in nine games in one season (21) as he did in 35 games and two seasons at Houston (21). Mills has also made 12 consecutive free throws, five of which came against the Gamecocks.
Polite approached double figure scoring with nine points and was a perfect six of six from the line. His single steal this afternoon was his 100th career steal.
Osborne, Mills, and RayQuan Evans had multiple steals with two apiece in contributing to the Seminoles’ nine-steal team total. With a double-digit steals average (10.1 spg), Florida State leads the ACC in steals.
True freshmen Jalen Warley and John Butler contributed eight apiece on three of five shooting for each of them. Both also contributed a steal.
South Carolina’s Carter led the team with 16 points, while Reese contributed 13 points on three of four shooting from the 3-point line.
The Seminoles look to bounce back at home this Wednesday, December 15 against Lipscomb. The game will tip-off at 9pm ET and can be viewed on the ACC Network.