After week layoff, Florida St. expects challenge from UT Martin

The Florida State basketball team has had a week to dwell on its first loss of the season.After coming up just short of a sizable upset in a 78-76 loss at No. 10 Florida last Tuesday, the Seminoles (2-1) finally return to action Tuesday night against UT Martin in Tallahassee, Fla.First-year head coach Luke Loucks, accustomed to his former life as an NBA assistant, admitted after the defeat that he’s still getting used to the less-compact college basketball schedule.”I hate it,” Loucks said of the layoff. “I’m coming from the NBA, where you play four games a week. You play a tough game like this, guess what? In 24 or 48 hours, you’re lining up again to get ready to go.”While no coach is going to outright celebrate moral victories, there were plenty of positives to build on from such a competitive loss to the defending national champions.On a night where the Seminoles shot 26.5% from outside the arc and just 33.8% from the floor, they were in the game until the final possession.Florida State forced 18 turnovers and averages 18.7 forced turnovers per game.After Robert McCray V broke the program record with 17 assists in the season opener, he scored 29 points against the Gators — including Florida State’s final 16 points over the final 6:11 of game time.

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