Florida State men's basketball holds off NC State for road win in return to action
From watching Florida State's return Saturday, you wouldn't have known the Seminoles had not played a game in over two weeks.
Due to COVID issues within the FSU basketball program, the Seminoles were unable to play three consecutive games on their schedule. That forced an 18-day break between games.
But when the Seminoles finally returned at North Carolina State, they picked up where they left off offensively.
And then some.
FSU (7-4, 1-1 in ACC) shot 50.9% from the floor and 40% from three to dispatch the Wolfpack (7-7, 0-3 in ACC) 83-81 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
"This was a very satisfying victory under those circumstances," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said.
"We had a lot of uncertainty going on with our team, but I thought the guys showed a lot of fight, hustle. I thought they stayed focused, they didn't allow themselves to get rattled."
FSU's strong offensive showing was led by a few career performances from Malik Osborne and Cam'Ron Fletcher.
Osborne led the way with a career-high 19 points, while Fletcher added a career-high 14 points. Caleb Mills and Matthew Cleveland each added 13 points each.
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For the Seminoles, it's an especially important win against a team that needed the win probably even more than they did. Hamilton said that FSU has had only three true team practices where everyone has been there since the shutdown began.
"I was surprised we were as cohesive as we were under those circumstances..." Hamilton said.
"This is a big game for us. Hopefully it will give us a little confidence and give us an idea of what it's like playing against a very challenging team on the road."
With the win, the Seminoles avoid their first 0-2 ACC start since 2015-16 and extend their winning streak over NC State to four games.
It was also the Seminoles' first road win in three games this season. They'll get a chance for another next time out Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Wake Forest.
FSU overcomes defensive struggles
The Seminoles' strong offensive showing helped them overcome one of their worst defensive performances of the season.
The Wolfpack found and took advantage of a number of open shots. FSU did force 16 NC State turnovers, but the Wolfpack shot 51.9% from the floor, led by 32 points from ACC Player of the Year contender Dereon Seabron.
Seabron made 12 of 14 shots, putting up his second career 30-point game. He added five rebounds and seven assists.
"It wouldn't have made a difference if we could have practiced defense 24 hours a day, Seabron does that to everyone," Hamilton said.
"He's just an unusually skilled athlete who has the ability to get to the basket."
Seabron didn't especially contribute to the Wolfpack's three-point shooting success, but NC State did stay in the game in part thanks to making 12 of 27 threes (44.4%) - well above the team's 30.2% three-point average.
This effort was led by freshman Terquavion Smith, who hit 7 of his 13 three-point attempts, racking up 23 points.
Fletcher returns to form
Fletcher started his FSU career with quite a run.
The sophomore transfer guard from Kentucky has scored nine or more points in four of the Seminoles' first six games -- double figures in three of those -- but had not been the same since suffering a face injury in the loss at Purdue.
He played sparingly in the last two games, recorded no points and never appeared comfortable while forced to wear a face mask when on the court.
Coming out of the COVID break, Fletcher was able to stop using his mask and returned to his scoring ways against the Wolfpack.
He was the first FSU player to reach double digits and scored his 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting.
It wasn't a game with no faults from Fletcher, who did commit six of FSU's 15 turnovers.
However, he remains one of the most promising surprises of the season for the Seminoles and is now averaging 6.9 points per game.
Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Malik Osborne, Cam'Ron Fletcher help FSU Seminoles win at NC State
