FSU outpaced in blowout loss to Texas A&M

Facing off against its second SEC opponent of the season, Florida State took on the Texas A&M Aggies in a neutral-site matchup inside Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.

Poor shooting on the Seminoles’ end led to an early, double-digit deficit, one that FSU failed to mitigate, let alone overcome, en route to a 95-61 non-conference loss.

First half

One of the big concerns heading out of Tuesday’s win over CSU Bakersfield was FSU’s shooting going cold, an issue that once again caused trouble for the Seminoles against Texas A&M. The first half started slow for Florida State, with poor shooting snowballing as the Seminoles saw themselves quickly fall behind by double digits early. At the first media timeout, FSU trailed 16-3 due to shooting 20% from the field and by the time the second hit with 11:48 remaining, Florida State found itself down 29-11.

FSU scored only 13 points from that point on — including just four points over the course of the final seven minutes of play in the first (only two of which were from a shot on the floor), to head into the half trailing the Aggies 52-24. Florida State was just 9-35 from the field in the first, going 4-22 from beyond the arc while being outrebounded 31-20. Texas A&M also got 15 points off FSU turnovers (of which FSU had nine) while the Seminoles didn’t convert any of A&M’s six turnovers into points.

Second half

That early hole continued to be an albatross around FSU’s neck in the second half, as even as the Seminoles’ came out firing to start, the daunting deficit kept the Aggies comfortably in the lead despite their own shooting woes coming into play.

Kobe MaGee hit a pair of threes to give FSU a bit of momentum as the Seminoles outscored the Aggies 18-9 in the first nine minutes of the second half, which included an 11-0 run. Texas A&M stopped its scoring drought with a jumper and a three near the 10-minute mark, pushing its lead back to 24 points and never looking back.

Florida State was unable to contain Rubén Dominguez, who was 7-12 from the three, and Rashaun Agee, who logged a double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds. The Aggies had four players in double digits while MaGee was the lone player to do so for FSU.

MaGee, finishing with 21 points (4-10 from the three), became the Seminoles’ fifth different leading scorer in seven games.

FSU vs. Texas A&M: Box score

• FG%Texas A&M: 44%FSU: 29%

• FGsTexas A&M: 30-68FSU: 21-73

• 3FG%Texas A&M: 44%FSU: 22%

• 3FGsTexas A&M: 15-34FSU: 9-41

• FT%Texas A&M: 80%FSU: 47%

• FTsTexas A&M: 20-25FSU: 8-17

• TOsTexas A&M: 16FSU: 16

• PtsOffTOTexas A&M: 21FSU: 7

• TotRebTexas A&M: 60FSU: 40

• DefRebTexas A&M: 38FSU: 20

• OffRebTexas A&M: 22FSU: 20

• 2ndChPtsTexas A&M: 18FSU: 18

• BenchPtsTexas A&M: 34FSU: 24

• PtsPaintTexas A&M: 28FSU: 24

• FstBkPtTexas A&M: 20FSU: 11

• BlocksTexas A&M: 0FSU: 5

• StealsTexas A&M: 13FSU: 11

• AsstsTexas A&M: 20FSU: 1

Up next for FSU

Florida State (5-2) returns to play next Tuesday, December 2, to face off againt a second-straight SEC program in Georgia (6-1)