NCAA Tournament 2017, Florida State vs Florida Gulf Coast: Highlights, score and recap

Florida State and Florida Gulf Coast battled in an opening round game in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

On Thursday night, Florida State vs. Florida Gulf Coast took place with No. 3 and 14 seeds battling, respectively. It’s an inter-state showdown that was expected to be full of dunks. Would it live up to the hype?

Well, the first half did indeed feature dunks from both teams. It looked somewhat reminiscent to Florida Gulf Coast’s storied run from 2013, which put them on the map. Florida State’s Dwayne Bacon showed up with a handful of powerful slams of his own, too.

Bacon was the game’s leading scorer at the half. He had 16 points, about half of which came in the final few minutes. FGCU’s Brandon Goodwin’s 14 points had him right behind, including chipping in three assists.

The second half saw FSU start to pull away, going up by 10 points in the opening few minutes. However, the Eagles lurked by continuously cutting the score around the 10-minute mark. They just couldn’t stop the Seminoles’ shooting, as they stayed efficient for most of the game.

RELATED: Updated 2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket

With four minutes to go, the lead would be in double digits again with the time wasting away for FGCU. Florida State wouldn’t let go of it and closed out the score, 86-80. This is despite a late comeback from the Eagles who slowed the game down with fouls, free throws and timeouts.

Three Stars

1. Dwayne Bacon, Florida State – Bacon led the way with 25 points on 11 for 17 shooting to lead the Seminoles to the win.
2. Brandon Goodwin, Florida Gulf Coast – While he had a high volume of shots, Goodwin contributed 28 points and seven assists.
3. Jonathan Isaac, Florida State – Isaac had 17 points and 10 rebounds, the only player to put up a double-double in this game.

Highlights

What’s Next?

Following this game, Florida State will move on to face No. 11 Xavier on Saturday, with the winner going to the Sweet 16. Florida Gulf Coast is eliminated and will have to wait for the 2017-18 college basketball season.