Tennessee Volunteers vs Florida State Seminoles Match Player Stats On Nov 29, 2019

Balanced scoring and defensive pressure boosted Florida State into the championship game of the Emerald Coast Classic tournament with a 60-57 win over No. 17 Tennessee on Friday in Niceville, Fla.

The Seminoles will play for the tournament title on Saturday against Purdue after the Boilermakers defeated No. 20 VCU 59-56 in the other semifinal. Tennessee will face VCU in the third-place contest Saturday.

Devin Vassell scored 13 points, M.J. Walker added 10 and Trent Forrest had nine. Patrick Williams and Balsa Koprivica each had eight for FSU (6-1).

Lamonte Turner tallied 20 points, Yves Pons 13 and Jordan Bowden 11 for the Volunteers (5-1), who committed 21 turnovers and scored well below their 73.8 points per game.

Tennessee's biggest problem was at point guard as Turner, a senior, committed eight turnovers.

With their campus located just over two hours away, the Seminoles started fast in the first semifinal game in front of a partisan Florida State crowd.

Florida State easily gained access to the paint and went 6-for-8 from the field in the game's first five minutes, with center Koprivica's dunk giving the Seminoles a 12-2 lead.

Pons brought the Tennessee faithful alive when he drove baseline and slammed down a two-handed dunk at 9:12 to cut Florida State's lead to 20-15.

The Volunteers held their own despite a rash of turnovers by knocking down eight of their first nine free throws, but Turner struggled with running the offense.

A key cog in Tennessee's success last season, he committed five of his team's 13 first-half turnovers and found himself on the bench in the final minutes of the half.

John Fulkerson's putback ended a field goal drought of 7:45 by the Volunteers, who trailed 29-24 at halftime after outscoring Florida State 22-15 to close the half.

The Seminoles' largest lead of the half was 12 when it held a 14-2 advantage just over six minutes in.

Florida State's quick ball movement resulted in dunks by Koprivica and Williams for a 38-29 lead at 15:41 of the second half.

The Volunteers got it to 57-54 with 1:03 left on two free throws by Davonte Gaines, but Forrest hit one free throw and Vassell made two more to seal the win.

--Field Level Media