Florida State had one more game before Thanksgiving break and before a tough non-conference stretch against Texas A&M, Georgia, and Houston. Games before Thanksgiving are always a little interesting because the students are back home on break, and the players probably wish they were.
I don’t think anything could’ve prepared me for how this game would go.
Going into halftime, the teams were a combined 0/20 from three (Florida State with 15 of those) and had a combined 21 turnovers. FSU was at least shooting free throws well, but the offense was really rough. It wasn’t until Thomas Bassong checked in and started forcing turnovers at a ridiculous rate that the offense finally started to get going because of transition opportunities.
Chauncey Wiggins finally got a three to fall to start the second half, but that doesn’t mean that the offense was playing any better. Robert McCray V picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, which didn’t make things any easier.
But FSU went on a 21-0 run in the middle of the second half to put the game completely out of reach with the help of Martin Somerville, who knocked in a few threes. For as much as this was supposed to be an offensive team, the defense was very impressive in this game. Even outside of forcing turnovers, which they used to spark that run, Florida State was doing a phenomenal job of not letting CSU get any easy looks.
From there, Florida State would cruise to an 89-59 win. For FSU to play this objectively bad on offense and still win by 30 is impressive.
Chauncey Wiggins led the way with 17 points and 6 rebounds, Alex Steen had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Robert McCray V rebounded from foul trouble to have 14 points (also had 7 turnovers), and Martin Somerville also had 14.
Florida State will face Texas A&M in Tampa on Friday evening. Here are three takeaways from this game.
FINAL: Florida State dominates Cal State Bakersfield 89-59
FSU forced a ridiculous 28 turnovers for a rate of 36.4%, getting 40 points off of them
C Wiggins 17 pts, 6reb
A Steen 13 pts 10 reb
R McCray V 14 pts
M Somerville 14 pts
NEXT: vs. Texas A&M in Tampa Friday #Noles pic.twitter.com/WVhvECkG7n
— Austin Veazey (@EasyVeazeyNG) November 26, 2025
READ MORE: FSU Basketball prepares for one more warm-up against Cal State-Bakersfield
I mentioned it in the preview, but Robert McCray V has to be better about not fouling. It wasn’t just fouling on defense in this game, though; his third came on an offensive foul where he put his shoulder through the chest of the defender, and the fourth came diving for a loose ball. He has to be smarter when he’s on the floor, because he’s too important to the offense.
I’ve never seen a more impactful bench defender than Thomas Bassong. I don’t care that he only finished with one block and no steals; he causes so much chaos when he’s on the floor, and probably caused four turnovers by himself with his length and hustle. His per 40-minute numbers defensively look great, but it doesn’t do the eye test justice.
I truly didn’t see this kind of turnover creation come from Florida State this season, but they’re elite at it. They were one of the five best teams in the country at forcing turnovers, with a rate of 25.1%. They blew that mark out of the water in this game, forcing 28 turnovers for a rate of 36.4%.
FSU wasn’t the cleanest with their own turnovers, though, as they coughed it up 17 times. That will need to be fixed moving forward, even though they’ve been really good at taking care of the ball most of the year.
READ MORE: Mike Norvell backed by FSU administration: ‘I’m not going to let them down’
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