Jamir Watkins had 19 points and Malique Ewin totaled 15 points to lead Florida State to a 78-69 victory over Temple on Friday night in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Uncasville, Conn.
The Seminoles (5-1) won their second in a row following a loss to rival Florida and will next face UMass on Sunday in the Tip-Off while the Owls (3-2) dropped their second in three games. Temple will next play UMass on Saturday in Uncasville.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. led all scorers with 20 points, but at times, Florida State’s defense did a solid job limiting him from producing offense. Mashburn Jr. shot 6 of 15 from the field and went 1 for 4 from 3-point range. He also went 7 for 12 from the free throw line.
Zion Sanford totaled 15 points, four rebounds and three assists as well for the Owls while Steve Settle had 14 points and five rebounds.
Watkins did most of his damage from the foul line as well, shooting 10 for 13 while going 4 for 10 from the field.
Temple jumped out to a 9-2 lead, but couldn’t sustain much momentum thanks to Florida State’s defense. Ewin had a solid game on that front and on the boards as he collected nine rebounds.
Taylor Bol Bowen also had a solid defensive game with three blocks to go along with seven points. Chandler Jackson also finished with 10 points.
Florida State finished with a slight rebounding edge at 39-34, but controlled things in the paint where they outscored the Owls 40-30 and slowed the game down to more of a grind.
But when the Seminoles needed to run they did, totaling 15 fast break points.
After Temple cut the deficit to 73-66 with 1:25 remaining on a Settle dunk, Florida State put the game away at the free throw line as Watkins made all three of his free throws and Bol Bowen made two.
The Seminoles spread the ball well once again with six players scoring at least seven points.
–Field Level Media
