Florida State University Athletics
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University of North Carolina
Malique Ewin Establishing Himself As ACC Standout In The Post
2/23/2025 2:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TALLAHASSEE – Florida State junior Malique Ewin has established himself as one of the top post players in the ACC. The first-year Seminole has recorded nine double-doubles, scored in double figures in 23 of 27 games, scored 20 or more points four times in ACC play, and more than held his own against all of the established big men in the conference.
On Wednesday night against Miami, he etched his name prominently into the Florida State basketball record book with a perfect 10 of 10 field goal shooting performance in scoring his career-high of 24 points in the Seminoles' 74-66 win over Miami at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Ewin finished a perfect 10 of 10 from the field to become just the fourth player in school history – and the first since 1992 – to finish perfect on at least 10 field goals in a game. He was 10 of 10 from the field to match a record for field goal perfection last set by Douglas Edwards against UNC Asheville on January 2, 1992. He's the first player in school history to record a perfect shooting night with at least 10 field goals made in an ACC game.
Ewin was on fire from the field in Saturday's game at Louisville as he made nine of his 10 field goal attempts. He has made 19 of his last 20 field goal attempts (.950 percent) and is averaging 21. 5 points scored in the last two games.
Ewin will work to extend his shooting streak in the Tucker Center Monday night as the Seminoles play host to North Carolina at 7:00 p.m. He'll have the bright lights of ESPN's Big Monday Game of the Week to put his talents on display for the entire nation. Fans attending the game are encouraged to wear white. An exclusive giveaway will be provided by Truist.
"Setting a record is always special," said Ewin. "I want to extend myself and put in maximum effort in every game and help our team win games."
Ewin enters Florida State's game against North Carolina as one of the highest producing players in the ACC this season. He's ranked first in the ACC in field goal shooting percentage (.593), and is ranked in the top 20 among all league players for scoring (18th, 14.4 ppg), rebounding (sixth, 8.0 rpg), offensive rebounds (second 3.3 orpg), and defensive rebounds (12th, 4.7 dprg).
Ewin is one of only five players in the ACC (Ewin, Maxime Raynaud of Stanford, Copper Flagg of Duke, and Donald Hand, Jr., of Boston College) who is currently ranked in the top 20 for both rebounding and scoring, and he is among the top five players in the conference with his nine double-doubles.
"My expectation for myself when I decided to come to Florida State was to be the best version of me at all times," said Ewin. "I want to go on the court every day and do the little things that add up to big things to help our team win games."
Ewin began his Seminole career as one would have expected from the 2024 National Junior College Player of the Year at South Plains Community College in Texas. He was an NJCAA First-Team All-American selection, the NJCAA Region 5 player of the Year and was named to play in the NJCAA All-Star game.
He scored in double-figures in five of his first seven games and registered his first near double-double of 15 points and nine rebounds in Florida State's victory over Temple in the Naismith Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic.
Then came his elite performance with 17 points and his career-high of 17 rebounds in Florida State's game at LSU in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Against the Tigers on their home court inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Ewin was seven of 14 from the field, with three made free throws on the offensive end of the court, and was a terror on defense with 11 offensive rebounds, six defensive rebounds, and one blocked shot.
The game against LSU and scoring and rebounding the way I did gave me a lot of confidence," said Ewin. "It showed me if I go out there in each and every game and rebound hard that good things will happen.
Following the Seminoles' game at LSU, Ewin began to show the nation what he could on the basketball court.
Ewin totaled six double-doubles in the next 10 games including five consecutive in ACC play against Miami (20 points and 10 rebounds), Clemson (15 points and 10 rebounds), Pittsburgh (18 points and 13 rebounds), Georgia Tech (17 points and 11 rebounds) and at Cal (16 points and 10 rebounds). He would soon add double-doubles numbers eight and nine in ACC play in victories over Notre Dame (18 points and 10 rebounds) and at Wake Forest (14 points and 12 rebounds).
Throughout his streak of five straight double-doubles, many aspects of his game remained constant, one of which was his ultra-successful shooting success from the field. During his string of five consecutive double-doubles from January 9 against Miami through January 22 against Cal, he shot an incredible 62 percent from the field (36 of 58).
Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton was very impressed by Ewin following Florida State's victory over Miami last week.
"I thought that you saw Malique making a tremendous effort to go out and do the very best with his team," said Hamilton. "He knew that this was an important game for us. I thought that he was really focused, and I was very proud of how he responded."
During the season, Ewin has established himself as a stat-sheet stuffer – one of those players who fills just about every column on the stat sheet every night.
Ewin enters Monday's game against the Tar Heels ranked as Florida State's leader in rebounding (8.0 rpg), second in scoring (14.2 ppg), second in blocked shots (24 in 26 games), fourth in assists (1.7 apg), and sixth in steals (0.8 spg). He's recorded multiple blocked shots six times, multiple assists in 14 games, and multiple steals in four different games.
Ewin's numbers are even better in his 16 ACC games when compared to his entire season of statistics.
The Lawrenceville, Ga., native averages 16.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting .630 from the field against the best teams in the most historic basketball conference in the nation in the first 16 ACC games of his career. He's one of only two Seminoles who has recorded in double figures in assists (27), blocked shots (19) and steals (15) since conference play began in January.
As Ewin and the Seminoles begin play in the final four games of the season and look forward to playing in the ACC Tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. in March, Ewin is looking to become the first Florida State player to lead the ACC in the field goal shooting percentage category.
Leading the ACC in a statistical category is quite a feat and reserved for the best of the best in the history of the ACC.
The best is yet to come for Florida State's Malique Ewin.
