Seminoles overcome lineup shift

TALLAHASSEE — Leonard Hamilton benched two of his leading scorers for the first half, and the Florida State men’s basketball team found itself in a peculiar position against the worst team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

But the Seminoles were able to overcome their lackluster start, with key contributions from the new members of their starting lineup and a reliable senior, earning an 88-75 victory over Pitt in front of announced crowd of 9,123 at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Sunday night.

P.J. Savoy led FSU with 18 points and MJ Walker had 14 points during their first starts of the season, and senior Phil Cofer scored 12 of his 14 points in the final six minutes to lead the Seminoles (19-8, 8-7 ACC).

Forward Terance Mann (14.4 points per game) and guard Braian Angola (13.2) did not enter the game until the second half — due to a “small indiscretion,” Hamilton said without further elaboration.

But when they entered the game, FSU was in the midst of an early run that saw FSU take a 10-point lead before Pitt tied the game at 65 with 6:36 left in the game.

That’s when Cofer took over with two dunks in the midst of a 23-10 finish for FSU, with contributions from Walker, backup guard Trent Forrest and a dunk by Mann with a 1 minute left to put the game away in the final minute.

“We got some deflections, got some steals got some easy baskets, and got a little momentum and was able in the latter part (of the second half ) to extend the lead,” Hamilton said. “I was very pleased with our overall effort.”

Pitt made 10 3-pointers in the first half, including a buzzer-beating shot from Marcus Carr to take a 39-38 lead into halftime over FSU.

But Pitt could not keep its pace, shooting 2 of 6 from 3-point range in the second half, and enduring eight turnovers thanks to FSU’s increased pressure on the defensive end.

Forrest finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists, and freshman forward Mfiondu Kabengele had 13 points, including 9 of 11 from the freethrow line, with six rebounds for the Seminoles.

Mann finished with 4 points, two rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes, while Angola was scoreless in just five minutes.

Jared Wilson-Frame and Shamiel Stevenson had 17 points each, and Parker Stewart had 16 points for Pitt, which led by as many as 7 points in the first half.

Pittsburgh is now 0-15 in the ACC and 2-20 in its last 22 conference games. One of the two victories came at home against FSU on Feb. 18, 2017.

Florida State’s next game is next Sunday at NC State, the first of three final regular season games before the ACC tournament. The Seminoles are striving for the second straight appearance in the NCAA tournament this season.

“I still think we’re in a work in progress,” Hamilton said. “But we need to think mentally and emotionally, and connecting ourselves, and reenergize ourselves to make a run here toward the end of the season.”

Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, a former FSU standout last season, was in attendance for the game during the NBA’s All-Star Break.