Men's basketball: Florida State Seminoles hold Stetson Hatters to 10 points in first half of victory

TALLAHASSEE — Deividas Dulkys led four players in double figures with 13 points and Florida State held Stetson to 10 first-half points in an 80-38 rout on Wednesday night.

The Seminoles (2-0) held the Hatters (1-2) to three first-half field goals and entered halftime with a 36-point lead. FSU held Stetson without a field goal for the final 11:37 of the first half.

Stetson ended its scoreless drought with Mark Lohuis' 3-pointer with 16:31 left in the game, but FSU led by as many as 49.

"I was impressed with the fact that this team seems to be committed to defending," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "That's something we've worked very hard trying to instill in them."

Florida State had 10 blocks, forced 17 turnovers and held Stetson to 27.5 percent shooting.

Stetson's 10 first-half points tied the Tucker Center record for the fewest points FSU has allowed in a half. The Hatters' 38 total points were the fewest FSU has allowed in a game since March 2, 1979.

Sophomore forward Chris Singleton said that defensive pressure is what the Seminoles expect from themselves.

"The coaches preach it every day," Singleton said. "We know that if you want to play, you have to play defense."

Hatters coach Derek Waugh called the game the "longest 40 minutes of my life" and said Florida State's size made it difficult to run his offense.

"Everybody inside just made it difficult for us to get into the paint and score," Waugh said. "We're a smaller, quicker-type team, so that took away a lot of our offensive ability."

Singleton scored 12 for FSU, and Xavier Gibson and Ryan Reid each scored 11.

Stetson's Tyshawn Patterson scored a game-high 15.

FSU plays at Mercer on Saturday at 4:30, then visits Florida on Tuesday at 7.