Kabengele scores 18 as FSU routs Canisius
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. >> Mfiondu Kabengele knew he was ready to make the jump from reserve to a major contributor this season.
The 6-foot-10 sophomore had a career night Monday, even doing it while coming off the bench.
Kabengele scored a career-high 18 points in 19 minutes as No. 14 Florida State warmed up after a seven-day layoff to put away Canisius 9361 on Monday night. The nephew of former NBA All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo, Kabengele shot
6 of 12 from the floor and added six rebounds.
“Fi is a monster,” Florida State guard M.J. Walker said. “Those plays like that, his potential is crazy. It gave us momentum.”
Walker and Terance Mann added 12 points for Florida State, which opened 3-0 for a third straight season.
But the Seminoles needed Kabengele in the worst way as Canisius
(1-1) closed the deficit in the second half. The Golden Griffins trailed most of the game but cut the lead to 47-41 with 14:12 left. Kabengele then came in the game and scored seven points in less than two minutes to put the Seminoles back up 58-41 with
12 minutes to go. “My role on the team is to bring energy, crash the glass and be a post scorer,” Kabengele said. “So when I felt like we were playing very sluggish, I knew that I was going to come in eventually. So I mentally prepared myself. Make sure you provide energy so the guys can feed off it.”
Malik Johnson scored
20 points for Canisius (11), which had 13 first-half turnovers and finished the night with 19.
Takal Molson and Isaiah Reese added 15 points apiece for Canisius, which shot 22 of 52 (42.3 percent). Canisius had multiple players in foul trouble and looked down the bench for help in the second half, turning to seldom-used Dantai St. Louis for 27 minutes.
“(He) played three total minutes last season,” Canisius coach Reggie Witherspoon said. “And he gave us great effort. But that’s outside of your comfort zone.”
Scott Hitchon was ejected for a flagrant foul after pushing Mann to the floor with 13:10 left in the game. Hitchon started but was in foul trouble and didn’t have a point or a rebound.
The Seminoles shot 31 of
59 (52.5 percent) and also made 7 of 14 3-pointers.
Florida State scored 51 bench points, led by Koumadje’s 18 and Devin Vassell’s 10 points. All 11 Seminoles who played in the game scored.
The win-by-committee approach that Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton favors was on full display as the team’s leading scorer through two games, P.J. Savoy, took just two shots and had two points in 22 minutes.
“The guys who came in the game for them appeared to be jumping on a train or a bus that was already moving,” Witherspoon said. “Whoosh. Full-speed intensity.” NORTH CAROLINA 101, ST. FRANCIS 76 >> Once seventh-ranked North Carolina started taking care of the basketball, the Tar Heels had no trouble taking care of Saint Francis of Pennsylvania.
Cameron Johnson scored 20 points, freshman Nassir Little added 19 and North Carolina beat Saint Francis in the on-campus round of the Las Vegas Invitational.
Luke Maye had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Kenny Williams had a career-high nine assists and freshman Coby White finished with 16 points for the Tar Heels (5-0), who shot 52 percent and never trailed.
North Carolina fought through some early turnover trouble and finally pulled away from the pesky Red Flash (1-3), reaching triple figures for the third time in four games.
Yes, they committed a season-high 18 turnovers. But only six of them came in the final 15 minutes, when the Tar Heels turned a six-point game into yet another blowout.
North Carolina coach Roy Williams said program patriarch Dean Smith “used to say that turnovers are either selfishness or carelessness.
“And half of ours were carelessness, and half were selfishness,” Williams added. “If you want to be good, don’t turn the sucker over.”
Jamaal King had 21 points, Andre Wolford scored 18 and Keith Braxton added 14 to lead the Red Flash, who shot 34 percent but early in the second half were within striking distance of their first Top 25 victory since 1959.
They pulled to 58-52 with less than 15 minutes left on Braxton’s pretty layup between two defenders.
Kenny Williams hit a big 3-pointer and Johnson followed with a steal and a layup to start the decisive 11-0 run and put the Tar Heels back up by double figures to stay.