Despite a foul-filled first half, Florida State was able to run the Minnesota Golden Gophers into the ground, winning the ACC/Big 10 challenge 75-67.
The Seminoles (6-1) came into the ACC/Big 10 challenge losing their previous eight attempts. With the ‘Noles trailing the Gophers 33-31 at the break, the possibility of losing a ninth-straight challenge was lingering.
“I thought Minnesota did a very good job of controlling the tempo in the first half,” Head coach Leonard Hamilton said following the victory. “There were several times we turned the ball over when I thought we could have gotten some easy baskets to create separation.”
Both the Seminoles and Golden gophers combined for 28 first-half fouls, which killed any momentum gained early on. Neither team had a scorer in double figures at the break, while both teams had at least 18 free throw attempts in 20 minutes of action.
After a snail paced first half, Florida State came out of the break determined to create the separation that they failed to find in the first half. The ‘Noles went on a 30-16 run in the first 12-minutes of the second half.
Freshman Jonathan Isaac recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Dwayne Bacon maintained his average with 18-points.
“A couple of the times I turned to my guys and said, ‘nothing you can do, just good players making good plays.’” Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino said following his first loss of the season.
Minnesota was able to fight back at the end, trimming the Seminoles lead to just seven points with just under a minute to play, but Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes knocked down the first of two free throws to prevent any comeback the Gophers had in sight.
Florida State will have a much needed break after playing three games in five days, FSU will be off until Sunday when they play at George Washington.
