Shorthanded Florida State men's hoops unable to defy the odds in road loss to No. 2 Purdue
With three rotation players including two starters out, the odds were against Florida State even before it stepped on the court at the Mackey Arena on Tuesday night.
But toppling No. 2-ranked Purdue on its home floor likely would have been a daunting obstacle even if the Seminoles had been at full strength.
FSU battled despite being without starting point guard RayQuan Evans, starting center Tanor Ngom and backup forward Naheem McLeod.
But the Boilermakers flexed the depth and balance that have many believing they may have the ingredients to make a Final Four run this season in a 93-65 rout of the Seminoles in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup in West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue beat FSU for the first time in five meetings all-time and for the first time in three meetings in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
"I give coach (Matt) Painter a lot of credit for assembling the most complete team I've played against in a long time," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton told the Associated Press. "Sometimes, you've got to call it like it is — this team has Final Four written all over it."
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Purdue (7-0) used a 17-2 surge that started with 11:22 left in the second half to break the game open after the Seminoles (5-2) had cut the deficit to 59-51 on a Caleb Mills’ three-pointer.
Mills, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Houston, led Florida State with 22 points on 9 for 16 shooting.
Evans missed his second consecutive game in order to attend his brother’s funeral. His brother passed away on Nov. 20th after a battle with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia.
Ngom was out with a right knee strain which is expected to keep him out until late December and McLeod (mild ankle sprain) was also out leaving FSU thin in the frontcourt.
FSU started two freshmen as John Butler finished with 10 points and five rebounds and Jalen Warley had six points.
But despite producing 25 points off 13 Purdue turnovers, the Boilermakers’ depth proved too much.
Led by projected NBA lottery pick guard Jaden Ivey, who totaled 18 points on 7 for 11 shooting including 4 for 6 from 3-point range, Purdue had five players score in double figures and finished with 31 bench points.
"I thought our ability to make some shots and then blend in some post-ups was big," Purdue coach Matt Painter told the Associated Press. "Any time we can have that complement of good decision-making, making 3s and using our size, we're going to put people in some binds."
Without Ngom and McLeod, the Seminoles found it even more challenging to slow down Purdue’s 7-foot-4 sophomore center Zach Edey, who totaled 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting. The Boilermakers outrebounded FSU 36-25, outscored them 38-26 in the paint and produced 18 second chance points.
Florida State’s defense produced multiple quick scores in transition in the first half to keep the game within single digits until late in the first half when Purdue closed the first 20 minutes on a 13-4 run.
But the Seminoles couldn’t disrupt Purdue’s ball movement as it totaled 23 assists and shot 59.3 percent from the field including 12 for 25 from 3-point range. FSU made 8 of 24 shots from 3-point range, but was held to 41.3 percent shooting and attempted only six free throws.
Up next
Florida State will look to bounce back when it hosts Syracuse in its ACC opener on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Tucker Civic Center. The Seminoles will be looking to tie the record for the longest home winning streak against conference opponents if they can win their 26th in a row, which would match Duke's record (1997-2000). The game will be televised on the ACC Network and can be heard on the radio on 101.5 FM.
Reach Andre Fernandez at afernandez@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @FernandezAndreC.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: No. 2 Purdue easily beats shorthanded FSU Seminoles basketball
