Florida State wore out Syracuse with their deep rotation Tuesday night and made it pay off in an 85-69 victory at the JMA Dome. The Seminoles (12-7, 5-3 ACC) sent a dozen different players onto the hardwood, ten for at least nine minutes of action, and wore down the Orange (13-6, 4-4), enabling them to finish on a 34-15 run over the final 12 minutes. FSU’s Jamir Watkins nearly matched the Syracuse offensive output in the guests’ finishing kick, pouring in 13 of his team-leading 27 points in that span.

SU held a 54-51 lead, but just wilted down the stretch, shooting 4-of-15 with five turnovers over a near-12 minute span. Meanwhile, the ‘Noles had no such problems, making 11-of-15 shots from the field in putting Syracuse away.

Prior to that, the Orange had played pretty solid defense, allowing Florida State to shoot 42 percent from the field. Offense, however, was a struggle throughout for SU, as they made just 1-of-14 shots from 3-point range and committed 16 turnovers in the game. While FSU converted them into a reasonable dozen points, six came in the second half when they put the game away.

Syracuse jumped out to a pair of early four-point leads, but the Seminoles scored 12 of the game’s next 17 points to grab a 14-11 advantage with just under eight minutes off the clock. Florida State gradually strengthened pushing the lead out to 23-16 just over four minutes later.

Five different Orange players got into the scoring column as the team responded with a 10-3 run to knot the score with just over four minutes to play in the opening session. SU nosed out in front on a short J.J. Starling jumper and eventually used a pair of free throws from him with a couple seconds left for a 36-35 halftime lead.

FSU got the first score of the second half, but Syracuse responded with eight straight points in their best play of the night. Maliq Brown and Judah Mintz split the work evenly, needing just under three minutes to put the Orange in front, 44-37.

Shortly after that, Florida State responded with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 48 a side just over six minutes into the second half. Quadir Copeland had two foul shots and Mintz and Starling sandwiched a Seminole triple with lay-ups for a 54-51 SU lead.

Two minutes later, the lead was gone. Mintz kept Syracuse in striking distance with three scores, but a nine-point blitz turned things into a 14-point Florida State lead with just over four minutes to play. The gap eventually reached 20, but the last four points of the game went on the Orange side of the ledger.

Mintz led all scorers with 28 points and Starling was the only other SU player in double figures, finishing with ten points on 4-of-14 shooting, including an 0-for-5 effort from 3-point range. Brown closed the night with eight points and a dozen rebounds while Kyle Cuffe Jr. added seven points.

Watkins posted a double-double, adding 11 boards to his 27 points to lead the Seminoles. Primo Spears added 13 points and handed out a game high six assists. Baba Miller helped the FSU cause with 12 points while Cameron Corhen had ten.

----

Chat about this story and all things Syracuse and Syracuse recruiting on our premium message board, Cuse Classified!

Follow us on Twitter @TheJuiceOnline, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @SUJuiceOnline and listen to our podcast.

Tips/questions/concerns? E-mail Recruiting Analyst Charles Kang here.

Not a subscriber to The Juice Online? Join today for access to all our premium content and message board community.