Florida State rides defense past LMU at Jacksonville Classic

Updated Nov. 21, 2021 8:13 p.m. ET

Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Freshman Matthew Cleveland scored 13 points off the bench and Florida State defeated LMU 73-45 on Sunday night in the opening round of the Jacksonville Classic.

Cleveland made 6 of 8 shots from the floor and 1 of 2 free throws. Malik Osborne and Tanor Ngom scored 10 points each for the Seminoles (3-1).

After LMU (2-2) took an early 8-2 lead, Florida State's defense took control until the final buzzer. The Seminoles rallied to lead 32-17 at halftime and held the Lions to six points over the final 10 minutes of the game.

Joe Quintana led LMU with 12 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting. His teammates made 2 of 15 3-pointers (13%). The Lions shot 36% overall and 44% (7 of 16) from the foul line.

Florida State shot 51% from the field, which included 8 of 19 3-pointers and they were 7 of 11 from the free-throw line.

Florida State had 14 steals among LMU's 24 turnovers.

Florida State will play SMU or Missouri on Monday night.

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