Florida State was back in action on Friday night against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders. It was their first game since losing to Florida in a disappointing fashion on Tuesday night, so it was going to be interesting to see how they looked in this game.

For two and a half minutes, it looked like they had put that loss behind them, roaring out to a 10-0 lead. The Islanders called a timeout, and then it was ugly for the rest of the first half.

The half-court offense was just a slog for the entire first half. Corpus Christi would get the lead down to 6 or 7, and FSU would build it up to 11 or 12 by just sheer force to get to the free-throw line. Three-point shooting was still an issue, and even the layups weren't falling.

Florida State may have had a 40-28 lead at halftime, but 17 of those points were at the line, another 8 came in the fastbreak (should've been more), and they had 10 points off 10 turnovers. They were shooting 11/30 from the floor and 1/11 from three. Luckily, their opponent wasn't very good.

It might've been the ugliest 12-point halftime lead you'll ever see.

At the very least, they were creating turnovers to get out in transition, but that kind of offensive output was worrisome considering the performances they'd already had.

It was a little better early in the second half. They were making a concerted effort to make quick outlet passes off misses to get out in transition, because that's the one part of the offense that was working early.

Florida State was able to build the lead to 20 with some transition opportunities at the rim and a LOT of free throws. So many free throws. TAMU-CC's offense couldn't get anything going as FSU spent a lot of time switching up their defense, but the Islanders simply didn't have the talent to get downhill, and they settled for a lot of midrange jumpers.

36 It never got back under 20 points, and the Seminoles were able to cruise to an 84-60 win. 36 of Florida State's points came at the free-throw line, which doesn't feel sustainable. That's part of the reason to be concerned, but a 20-point win is a 20-point win.

The next game will be on Tuesday against Ball State at home.

Here are three takeaways from this win.

Offense is Worrisome

Florida State is scoring a lot of points, and it doesn't always need to be pretty, but it just looks difficult. They're great when they get to the rim because they draw a lot of fouls and have good touch, but anything outside about 6 feet is a struggle.

They're now 21/94 (22.3%) from three-point range this season after going 2/21 in this game. It has to get better. They'll win games by getting to the line, but if they want to be a true contender, the outside shot has to be better.

Yes, they're getting to the free-throw line at a ridiculous rate, but you can't always count on that. Referees usually call more fouls early in the season. Jumpers need to start falling at some point.

Great Rebounding Presence

One thing FSU needed to do well was rebound, and they dominated the boards, 56-25. Corpus Christi had been one of the better rebounding low-major teams early in the season, but FSU put a stop to that in this game.

I specifically wanted to see Sebastian Rancik rebound better, and he did in this game, finishing with eight boards.

Florida State had 25 offensive rebounds, which is as many rebounds as TAMU-CC had in total. You'll always take that many offensive boards, but shots have to fall.

I Need More From the Freshmen

Martay Barnes and Brandon Bass Jr. have to step up. I don't need them to score in double figures, but they need to be able to hold their own, especially in a game like this. They were basically unplayable against Florida on Tuesday, so I was hoping to see them more involved in this game. That didn't really happen, as Barnes finished with just two points on 0/6 shooting, and Bass had 8 after a late three-pointer.

FSU needs more reliable depth. AJ Swinton is still recovering from injury (and is suspended), so you'd like to trust one of these two with more minutes, but they aren't proving the ability to yet.

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