Seminoles Fall At LSU In ACC/SEC Challenge, 85-75

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU scored the first eight points of the second half which allowed the Tigers to recover from a 35-32 halftime deficit and take a 40-35 lead less than two minutes gone, and held on to defeat Florida State, 85-75, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in the Second Annual ACC/SEC Challenge. The Tigers outscored the Seminoles by a 53-40 margin after halftime to gain the win.

The Seminoles are now 7-2 overall while the Tigers improve to 7-1.

Junior Malique Ewin earned his first career double-double for the Seminoles with a career-high tying 17 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Ewin was seven of 14 from the field with three free throws and earned 11 of his career-high 17 rebounds on the offensive end of the court. Largely because of his efforts, Florida State outscored LSU by a 19-14 margin on second chance points.

"They were the best version of who they are, and we didn't make that same adjustment by moving out a little farther and make them put the ball on the floor- they just backed up," said head coach Leonard Hamilton. "If they can consistently do that night in and night out, they're going to a hard task for a lot of teams that they're facing. That's a compliment to them to just make that adjustment.

Also in double figures for the Seminoles were Jamir Watkins with 15 points, Chandler Jackson with 12, and Jerry Deng with 11. Watkins led the Seminoles with three blocked shots, Jackson led the Seminoles with three assists, and Deng led Florida State with three 3-point field goals made.

Ewin led the Seminoles in the first half with 13 points and seven of his 17 rebounds.

Jackson continued his streak as the only Florida State player with at least one steal in each of its nine games of the season. He now has a team-leading 18 steals for the season. He reached his new season high, scoring 12 points and finishing as Florida State's third leading scorer.

Watkins was physical in the paint tonight, scoring 12 of his points from the field, followed by a near-perfect performance from the line, as he made three of four free throws.

The second half saw LSU shoot .571 from the field (16 of 28) and make six of its 13 3-point attempts.

Deng put on a performance from outside the arc, sinking in three 3-pointers and making up half of the Seminole's total of six 3-points shots made.

The Tigers were led by senior Cam Carter who scored 26 points, and fifth-year senior Jordan Sears who scored 21 points. Freshmen Corey Chest sled the Tigers with 10 rebounds.

"My hat goes off to them," said Hamilton. "Coach (McMahon) does a great job, and I think if they can continue to keep getting better and not have those injuries like they had to [Jalen] Reed, I think they're going to be a real factor in the SEC race."

The Seminoles begin ACC play in Raleigh, North Carolina, at NC State on Saturday, December 7, at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.

Season tickets for Florida State's home games are now on sale for as low as $150. Seminole fans interested in purchasing tickets for all regular season home games at the Donald L. Tucker Center can learn more here, or are encouraged to call the Florida State Ticket Office at 1-888-FSU-NOLE. Non-conference single game tickets are now available for purchase. ACC single game tickets went on sale to Seminole Booster members on December 2nd.

Seminoles Fall At LSU In ACC/SEC Challenge, 85-75

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Team Stats

Malique Ewin

Jamir Watkins

Chandler Jackson

Jerry Deng

Players Mentioned

Jerry Deng

Malique Ewin

Chandler Jackson

Jamir Watkins

Florida State University Athletics