Bacon powers ’Noles past visiting Gators

Facing its first top 25 team of the season, the Florida State basketball team rose to the occasion Sunday, defeating the visiting No. 21 Florida Gators, 83-78.

The score line is not a full indication of how the game played out. The Seminoles (10-1) had the game in control midway through the second half before nearly letting it slip away.

After leading by 13 points with 11:51 left in the game, FSU allowed the Gators (7-3) to cut the lead to three with 1:37 to play. However, UF sophomore guard Kevaughn Allen’s 3-point attempt bounced off the rim, Terrance Mann grabbed the rebound and hit the ensuing two free throws and it was never a one-possession game the rest of the way.

“We just had enough stops,” FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. “We got a couple of blocks there that gave us a few possessions where we were able to go down and score. We feel very fortunate to have won a game against a very good basketball team.”

Sophomore guard Dwayne Bacon played a key role in preserving the victory for Florida State. A year after he went for 24 points, including the game-winning shot, in Gainesville, Bacon put up a season-high 24 points against the Gators, 16 of which came in the second half after a 2-7 shooting performance in the first half.

“I started off attacking but [shots] weren’t going down,” Bacon said. “I just kept the same mindset I had all game and shots started falling.”

Mann also came up big in the win, putting together his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, two of which came late in the game on the defensive glass.

“I was more aggressive than normal,” Mann said. “I just told myself I was going to be real aggressive today and let things come to me and that’s how it happened.”

“[Mann] never takes a possession off,” Hamilton said after the win. “He does all the little things that it takes for you to win the game.”

Florida’s comeback effort was aided by strong performances from guards Kasey Hill, who finished with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and Allen, who added 16 points in 20 minutes of play as he dealt with foul trouble. FSU’s depth was too much for a UF team that used just 10 players.

A sloppy first half from the Seminoles kept the game close over the opening 20 minutes, with neither team ever leading by more than five points. Florida State finished the first half with nine turnovers as well as shooting 36.7 percent from the floor and 25 percent from 3-point range as the Seminoles struggled mightily with Florida’s stifling defense. Despite all of this, FSU held a 36-34 halftime lead.

“Those guys are crazy good on defense,” Bacon said of the Gators. “We just had to make adjustments.”

Those adjustments allowed the Seminoles to play a much cleaner second half, committing five turnovers, which opened up the early second-half run that proved to be the difference.

The win is FSU’s third straight over the Gators, wrapping up a stretch that saw the Seminoles go 4-0 over eight days.

Next up on Florida State’s schedule is a neutral-site matchup with Manhattan in the Metro PCS Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Florida will face Charlotte at 4 p.m. that day in Sunrise.