TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida State men's basketball team concluded exhibition play Monday night with a 76-47 victory over Flagler at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
The Seminoles will next host Jacksonville Friday at 8 p.m. to officially tip off the 2013-14 regular season.
Against Flagler, the `Noles built a 35-19 lead before seeing that advantage dip to 54-42 at the under-eight minute timeout. FSU then answered with a 22-5 scoring run to close the game.
"They hung around for a while and we shouldn't have let them," senior forward Robert Gilchrist said. "It was a good wakeup call for us; it keeps us grounded. We didn't play our best but we know what we have to do to improve to start the season."
One thing the Seminoles don't need to improve upon is the production from their leader, Okaro White.
The talented forward finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting while adding seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 39 minutes of action. Gilchrist also poured in 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting with five rebounds as his role on the team increases in his final season.
Sophomore Devon Bookert, who emerged as a rookie a season ago and has a chance to have special second year, added 12 points to go along with his eight assists. Fellow sophomore Montay Brandon had 10 points and freshman Jarquez Smith had six points.
FSU shot 53 percent from the field while limiting Flagler to 31 percent shooting. The Seminoles also won the rebound battle 40-31. Florida State forced 17 turnovers.
"We learned a lot about ourselves in these two exhibitions," Gilchrist said. "We know that we can't let the ball get stuck offensively and we've got make sure to get into a rhythm. We also saw that our defense is starting to find its identity again."