NCAA Basketball is back, and to start off their 2025-26 season, the Florida State Seminoles put together a dominant 108-76 win over the Alcorn State Braves. This game was a domination by the Noles. Once FSU gained the lead early on in the first half, and managed to stave off any threats of a comeback from the Braves, they managed to hold the lead for the entire last 36 minutes of the match.
This was not a bad performance offensively from the Braves, as they managed 50-50-60 shooting on the night with several double digit scoring contributions. Senior Nick Woodward led the team in scoring with 16 points.
The main thing that separated these teams was the turnover battle. On the night, the Seminoles earned themselves 10 steals and only had eight total turnovers themselves. The Braves, however, were less fortunate, only managing five steals while having a staggering 21 turnovers on the night. This will certainly serve as a learning opportunity for Alcorn State, as if not for them losing the turnover battle by such a wide margin, they most likely could have ended up being competitive in this matchup.
The Seminoles’ offense was effective Tuesday night with Chauncey Wiggins earning a career-high 22 points. Even more impressive – Robert McCray V broke the FSU all-time program record for assists, totaling 17 on the night in his FSU debut.
This is a promising start to the career of newly appointed FSU head coach Luke Loucks. Loucks is a former FSU player and is the immediate successor to the beloved coach Leonard Hamilton. A strong win such as this should make FSU fans rather optimistic about this new era.
The Seminoles will look to build off this momentum against the Alabama State Hornets on Friday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.