Updated: Dec. 4, 2016 at 11:30 p.m.
One day after a thrilling homecourt victory over South Florida, men’s basketball suffered a different fate against a second Sunshine State squad Sunday.
GW (5-4) dropped its 2016 BB&T Classic game to Florida State (7-1), 67-48, down the road at the Verizon Center behind its most lackluster offensive performance of the season.
“Any double-digit loss is disappointing,” interim head coach Maurice Joseph said. “We’re not going to make excuses, we got our butts kicked, now we have go to see how we respond.”
Not much went right for the Colonials during the lopsided affair, in which its talented ACC opponent never trailed.
GW hit just 14 field goals on 62 attempts to go a season-low 22.6 percent from the field, committed 18 turnovers and allowed all 12 Seminoles that saw minutes to get on the board.
GW’s leading scorer, star graduate student forward Tyler Cavanaugh, was held to just eight points on the day – his lowest career-total as a Colonial. Sunday’s contest marked the first time Cavanaugh did not score in double-figures in a GW uniform ending a 45-game streak.
Still without injured junior guard Yuta Watanabe (leg) and graduate student forward Patrick Steeves (knee), freshman forward Kevin Marfo was a lone bright spot as he led with a game-high 18 points and co-led GW with nine rebounds alongside freshman center Collin Smith.
“[Marfo] is a guy that we are bringing along He took a major step forward today,” Joseph said. “This is a kid that has a tremendously high motor, plays extremely hard, emotional passionate and all that kind of stuff. He is a tremendous player but he needs to continue to get better at the things we have been stressing.”
The Colonials came out cold from the get-go, with virtually nothing falling on the offensive end despite getting some good looks.
GW shot an anemic 5-for-25 (20 percent) from the field across the first frame. The Colonials made up some production at the line, where they scored a third of their season-low 48 points going 16-for-24 to FSU’s 5-for-8.
The Seminoles’ balanced attack easily exploited another weak defensive showing by the Colonials, especially down low. Despite being outrebounded 52-42, more than half of FSU’s 67 points came from inside the paint (34) as it finished the game shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 8-for-22 from long range.
The Colonials tried a number of different defenses, switching mostly between a 3-2 zone and man-to-man coverage, and even broke out the 1-3-1 for a play or two, but nothing was working against an offense that ended the day with three players in double-figures and received 35 points from its bench to GW’s 27.
Its inability to make stops, as well as conceding 17 points off turnovers, halted GW’s attempts to find a rhythm.
“We tried to do different things to keep them on their toes,” Joseph said. “But this is talented team, talented players with a lot of length and athleticism. So we couldn’t really get into a groove.”
After taking a 35-19 edge into halftime, FSU’s largest lead of the game came with 7:24 left in the second half up 65-30. The Colonials went on an 18-2 run to close out the game, as both teams subbed in their reserves.
“We have to take a step forward,” Joseph said. “This is a great learning experience for our guys, this is our first time getting our butts kicked like this…I am excited to see how we are going to react in practice.”
The Colonials look to rebound Wednesday as they visit Philadelphia to take on Temple (6-2) at 7:30 p.m.
