DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After earning spots in the Sunshine Slam title game less than 24 hours before, the Florida State Seminoles knocked off the No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes in overtime, 77-71.
Seminoles’ juniors Jamir Watkins and Jalen Warley led the way for FSU. They scored 37 of their team’s 77 total points in the contest. Watkins was everywhere on Tuesday afternoon as the forward snagged 11 rebounds and dished out four assists with four steals and a block on the defensive end.
While Watkins led the defensive charge, the Noles’ unit as a whole held Colorado to 25-of-72 (34.7%) shooting from the field.
CU’s starting point guard and leading scorer on the year, KJ Simpson, was held to 15 points on 5-of-22 shooting from the field. Statistically, it was the worst shooting night of Simpson’s career. His 22 attempts were the second-most attempts the junior has ever taken in a game and his 22.7% field goal percentage was good for the 10th-worst shooting performance of his career.
The Buffs also lacked a strong performance from their star senior Tristan da Silva as the forward was held to eight points on 2-of-9 shooting with six turnovers. Despite having open looks from deep, da Silva made zero of his four three-point attempts. His six turnovers tied the second-most turnovers da Silva has had in a game in his career.
The uncharacteristic performances from CU’s top two players were surprising, yet the Buffs kept the game close before dropping the contest in overtime.
The fight for the Sunshine Slam championship tipped off with three-point shots from Colorado’s Cody Williams and FSU’s Watkins. The two forwards both led their teams in scoring with Williams scoring 17 for the Buffs and Watkins scoring 19 for the Noles.
As the teams found themselves neck-and-neck midway through the first half, neither team could find the mark. Colorado, specifically, had missed numerous chances at the rim. But a string of Buffs’ turnovers led to an 8-2 scoring run for the Noles. With 7:10 left, Florida State led 18-12 after CU’s seventh turnover of the game.
For the rest of the half, Colorado cleaned up their turnovers as they only gave the ball away once more and outscored FSU 18-9 across the final seven minutes. Amidst the huge run, the Buffs’ experienced bench players began to step up. Senior guard Luke O’Brien took flight for a massive, one-handed jam before junior guard Julian Hammond III nailed a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the first half to give CU a 30-27 lead heading into the break.
Similarly to the first half, Florida State sparked the half’s first big run. This time, it was much more drastic. As the Colorado offense struggled once more, the Noles led a 20-7 run across the first seven minutes.
As the Seminoles got going, their leading scorer on the season and best three-point shooter, senior guard Darin Green, hit his first three-point shot of the contest. A few moments later, he lined up another three for Florida State off a steal by FSU’s Cam’ron Fletcher. As he swished his second three, the net swooped up and hung on the rim. When the career 38% three-point shooter tried for his third three in a row, the ball bounced off the net-covered rim as the Seminoles’ bench erupted that the net got in the way.
Following Green’s miss, a jumper by da Silva and a three-pointer by Hammond got the Buffs back in the game. Down 47-42, Colorado had life. A possession later, O’Brien was coasting towards the hoop for his second dunk on the night after Colorado forced a turnover.
After a media timeout, the teams traded possessions before Colorado’s Simpson hit his lone three of the contest to tie the game at 47 each. The Buffs' 10-0 run tied the game.
Luckily for FSU, a one-handed slam by Watkins stopped the bleeding. After the teams traded buckets once more, the Noles led a 6-0 run to go back up 55-49.
Like clockwork, the Buffs fought right back with a 7-0 run of their own to take a one-point lead with 4:22 to go.
With CU up 57-56, both teams combined for seven points across the final four minutes. After the Noles tied the game with just over a minute to play, the teams traded turnovers as they ended up going to overtime. With FSU running a nine-man rotation compared to Colorado’s seven-man rotation, the Buffs’ inability to get a shot up in the final moments of regulation was inexcusable.
Come overtime, Florida State outlasted the visibly tired No. 18 Buffaloes. The Noles outscored the Buffs 17-11 in the final five-minute period as Colorado failed to score their first basket until there was just over a minute left in the game. CU showed fight as they forced multiple turnovers in an improbable, last-minute attempt to win, but their poor shooting night proved too much to handle as FSU went on to win 77-71.
The Buffs struggled yet again from deep as they only made five of their 20 three-point attempts. They also failed to share the ball as well as they did through the first three games of the season while also notching a season-high 20 turnovers. Da Silva, O’Brien, and Williams combined for 14 of the 20 total turnovers.
While the Buffs won the rebound battle by eight (46-38) and still forced 18 FSU turnovers, it was ultimately their inability to make open shots that hurt them. Colorado grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and took 15 more shots than the Seminoles. However, when you miss layups and open looks from three, those stats don’t matter. CU’s 19 offensive boards were the most in a contest since their 82-78 loss to Arizona in March 2016 where they grabbed 22.
The Noles notched a season-high in steals with 17 while Colorado’s 34.7% field goal percentage was the lowest field goal percentage a team has shot against FSU since Kennesaw State shot 31.9% in Florida State's season opener.
Still, the Buffs forced overtime and only lost by six. While the early-season loss was underwhelming, losing in overtime when CU’s two best players both had one of the worst games of their careers may be a good sign. The loss certainly isn’t good as Colorado’s offense remained stagnant the whole game, but the potential outcomes from the loss may work in the black and gold’s favor.
The No. 18 Buffs next game comes when they return to the CU Events Center on Sunday, Nov. 26 to face the Iona Gaels. Tip-off is set for noon MST.
Cover photo by @CUBuffsMBB/X
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