Florida State Basketball: Takeaways from 7th-straight win vs. Florida

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 12: (R-L) ACC Commissioner John Swofford presents Head coach Leonard Hamilton and Trent Forrest #3 of the Florida State Seminoles with the regular season champion's trophy following the cancelation of the remainder of the 2020 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 12, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The cancelation is due to concerns over the possible spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

1 of 4

Florida State Basketball Leonard Hamilton Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /

Florida State basketball (3-0) didn’t start well against the Florida Gators (3-1). Scottie Barnes added to his highlight reel while the Gators lost their leader.

No. 20 Florida State basketball and the Florida Gators met once again for a battle of bragging rights in the state. The Seminoles, before this game, had won the last six meetings and were looking to build upon a 40-game home nonconference winning streak. They are second to the Gonzaga Bulldogs run of 60 plus games.

Florida State was unable to hold on to the basketball which led to eight points off of four early takeaways for the Gators and an 11-3 lead.

A scary scene occurred after the first media timeout as Gators Forward Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the floor as play was about to resume. His teammates were visibly shaken by the scene as they huddled together in tears to pray.

Per Leonard Hamilton, he let Florida officials decide if the game would continue after Keyontae Johnson collapsed: "I told our staff I was going to let them make that decision. … It was totally up to them and whatever they thought was in the best interest of their team."
— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) December 12, 2020

Keyontae Johnson is in critical but stable condition at Tallahassee Memorial. We will provide more updates when we are able.
— Denver Parler (@denverparler) December 12, 2020

We had an extended delay as @Keyontae went down. Our thoughts are with Key. Love you, man.
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) December 12, 2020

https://twitter.com/FSUHoops/status/1337796219297525763?s=20

According to the Florida ABC Station WCJB20, the SEC Preseason Player of the Year was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital for further evaluation. The update later came that he is in critical but stable condition. According to the Associated Press, Florida Gators Head Coach Mike White declined his media availability after the game to be at Johnson’s side in the hospital.

Before that Johnson had just finished throwing down a monster alley-oop. He had five points in the game. ESPN opted not to show the footage of Johnson’s collapse. A traumatic experience such as that doesn’t need to be shown much like any other bad injury.

The game continued and the Gators managed to hold to the first-half lead for the most part until Florida State made seven shots in a row to give them a 34-26 lead. Scottie Barnes and Anthony Polite were bright spots for the Seminoles. Barnes took it upon himself to drive the length of the floor and finish with a nice one-handed slam. Polite was hot from the perimeter as he made 3-of-4 from out there in the first half.

Florida State went into the halftime break up 45-35. In addition to Barnes and Polite playing well, M.J. Walker had seven points. Scottie Lewis was the lone double-figure scorer for the Gators with 13 points. He would finish with 19, four rebounds and three assists.

The Seminoles won the game 81-73 and the Florida Gators showed a lot of courage and strength for their teammate. We here, at Busting Brackets hope that he makes a full recovery.

Home/Florida State Seminoles