Watkins, Ball Bowen lead Seminoles to 74-62 win over Northern Kentucky – Florida State University

TALLAHASSEE – Sr Jameer Watkins and sophomore Taylor Ball Bowen scored 17 points apiece to lead the 10 Seminoles in the scoring column as Florida State recorded a season-opening 74-62 victory over Northern Kentucky at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The victory belonged to the Seminole head coach Leonard Hamiltonat 20^th game-winning start when he started his 23^rd season as Florida State’s head coach.

The big try for Watkins made his 20^th back-to-back double-digit scoring streaks that began on Jan. 6, 2024, against Wake Forest. Watkins surpassed 1,050 career points against the Norwegian. He now has 1,053 career points. Watkins tied a career high with four steals.

Ball Bowen’s 17 points tied for a career high as he nearly doubled his previous career best of nine points against North Florida and at Boston College during his freshman season.

Ball Bowen pitched his best game in his first career start. He led the Seminoles in scoring in the first half with 15 points. He made five of nine shots from the field and was a perfect seven of seven from the free throw line. In addition to his career-high 17 points, he had a career-high seven free throws and tied a career-high with two blocked shots.

Florida State’s starting lineup tonight consisted of Chandler JacksonBall Bowen, Watkins, Boston Holtand Malik Yuin. Ball Bowen, Holt and Ewin made their first career starts at Florida. The Seminoles lineup created instant energy for the home team, contributing 42 of the Seminoles’ 74 points. A total of 10 Florida State players scored in the win.

“I thought we were able to get a lot of guys into the game during critical parts and contribute in the game,” Hamilton said. “At one time we had three or four freshmen on the floor gaining experience.”

Jackson grabbed a career-high four steals, helping the team capitalize on both turnovers and points on the board. Florida State totaled 14 steals and scored 22 points on 22 turnovers at Northern Kentucky.

Sophomore Jerry Deng led the team in three-pointers – with nine points on three three-pointers. He also tied a career high with three steals.

In the first meeting between Florida State and Northern Kentucky, the Norwegians were led by guard Josh Dilling, who scored 18 points.

“We were aggressive tonight, that’s an area of ​​the game we’re trying to improve,” Hamilton said.

The Seminoles head to Houston, Texas on Saturday, November 9th at 7:00 pm to take on Rice University at the Toyota Center. This game is part of The Battleground 2K24 and may be on ESPN+.

Season tickets for Florida State home games are now on sale for just $150. Seminole fans interested in purchasing tickets for all regular season home games at the Donald L. Tucker Center can learn more here or are encouraged to call the Florida State ticket office at 1-888-FSU- NOLE. Tickets for one non-conference game are now available for purchase. ACC single game tickets will go on sale to Seminole Booster members on December 2nd.