Uncasville, Conn. — Malique Ewin led the way with 17 points as Florida State erupted for 55 points in the second half, cruising past Massachusetts 92-59 on Sunday to wrap up the Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff.
Jamir Watkins contributed 14 points, and Jerry Deng added 10 for the Seminoles (6-1), who shot an impressive 57% from the field and received a boost from their bench, which totaled 41 points.
Jaylen Curry scored 17 points to lead UMass (1-5), while Daniel Rivera added 12 and Hank Guerengomba scored 10. Daniel Hankins-Sanford had a strong presence on the boards, pulling down 13 rebounds in the loss.
The Seminoles quickly turned a 10-point halftime lead into a commanding 60-37 advantage with runs of 10-8 and 8-0 early in the second half. A 9-0 surge capped by a layup gave Florida State its largest lead of the game, 89-53, with just 3 minutes left.
Massachusetts briefly took its only lead of the first half, 24-23, after a 10-0 run around the 4-minute mark. However, Florida State regained control with five free throws and finished the half strong, knocking down three 3-pointers to lead 37-27 at the break.
UMass struggled with its shooting, making only 31% of its attempts and missing 21 of 24 three-pointers.
Florida State had previously defeated Temple 80-61 in its first game at the event on Friday, while UMass suffered a loss to Temple on Saturday.
