Florida defeats W. Virginia 66-56
NEW YORK — KeVaughn Allen scored a game-high 19 points to lead Florida to a 66-56 win over West Virginia in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Even though Allen was the only Gator to finish in double-figure scoring, Florida won its third game in its last five starts and improved to 5-3 overall.
The loss snapped West Virginia's four-game winning streak. The Mountaineers fell to 5-3. Chase Harler led West Virginia with 11 points.
Despite being outscored 14-4 in the final 7:25 of the first half, Florida went into halftime with a 30-27 lead. The Gators never trailed until Logan Routt drove the lane for a one-handed dunk with 16:39 left in the second half.
Florida responded with a 14-2 run in a span of 5:57 to turn a 31-30 deficit to a 44-33 lead. Keyontae Johnson's driving baseline two-handed jam and Andrew Nembhard’s 3 on consecutive possessions highlighted the run and forced Bob Huggins to call a timeout.
The stoppage did not slow the Gators, and when play resumed Allen drilled a straightaway 3 and Deaundrae Ballard made a free throw to extend the lead to 15.
Florida would lead by as many as 16 after Noah Locke made two free throws with 5:15 left. The Gators would make 11 free throws in the final 2:24 to close out the game.
Seminoles win
TALLAHASSEE — Florida State’s P.J. Savoy, M.J. Walker, Trent Forrest and Mfiondu Kabengele all finished in double figures while leading the No. 11 Seminoles to an 83-67 win over Troy Monday night.
The Seminoles (7-1) got off to a sluggish start against the Trojans (3-5), whom FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said were fired up to upset FSU.
“Troy played very well because of the reputation of being nationally ranked brings to a team,” Hamilton said.
“I think our guys have to learn how to adjust to that. Even though we’re playing very well, we’ve got to play better than we normally would’ve played.”
Savoy finished with 16 points, Walker had 14 and Kabengele added 10.
Florida State claimed a 37-28 halftime lead, but the Seminoles turned the ball over 11 times during the first half.
“I didn’t think their defense had that much to do with it,” Hamilton said of the turnovers.
“I think that we were careless and made poor decisions with the ball. When you give the ball back to your opponent 11 times, you can’t do that to the type of people we will see in conference play.”
Though some moments of the first half were sloppy, Florida State maintained a lead. Troy pushed to try to regain control in the second half.
A turnover by Walker and steal by Troy’s B.J. Miller set up a Miller 3-pointer and cut FSU’s lead to two with 17 minutes remaining.
Savoy answered the Trojans’ 12-3 run to begin the half with a 3-pointer that shifted momentum back to the Seminoles.
“I saw an open shot, and I took it,” Savoy said of his shot that pushed Florida State’s lead to five. “Terance [Mann] said he was looking for me at the start of the second half. Once he gave it to me, he said to shoot it.”
Despite Savoy pacing FSU with his 16 points, Hamilton believes the senior’s options have been compromised since the injury to Phil Cofer, FSU’s leading scorer last season.
“I think P.J. misses Phil because Phil stretched the floor,” Hamilton said. “Now guys are tackling up on P.J. and M.J. and that’s causing him not to get as many good looks.”
Kabengele, the only Seminole to block a shot, turned away three Troy shots.
“By me blocking the shots, it starts the break and gets everybody involved even on the bench because it provides energy,” Kabengele said. “When I [made those blocks], I felt really good because everybody fed off of it.”