Florida State wins season opener over George Washington

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Terence Mann scored 17 points and Florida State won its opener for the fifth straight season, defeating George Washington 87-67 on Tuesday night.

Mann, who is the lone returning starter from a squad that reached the NCAA Tournament last season, also had eight rebounds as the Seminoles extended its home winning streak to 22. Phil Cofer added 15 points and Christ Koumadje had 14 points and seven rebounds.

Florida State led by 20 (52-32) early in the second half on a pair of Cofer free throws before the Colonials went on a 13-3 run to get within 55-45. George Washington would get within 10 again (66-56) on a Yuta Watanabe 3-pointer with 9:37 remaining before the Seminoles scored nine straight points.

Terry Nolan Jr. and Jair Bolden scored 18 apiece for the Colonials (1-1) and Watanabe added 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Seminoles improved to 15-1 in openers under Leonard Hamilton. They shot 38 of 68 from the field and had a 52-20 edge in points in the paint.

George Washington was 24 of 63 from the floor and struggled from beyond the arc, going 7 of 26.

BIG PICTURE

George Washington: The Colonials have nine newcomers, including four freshmen. They don't have much of a bench rotation at the moment as three players saw 30-plus minutes.

Florida State: The Seminoles had one of the deepest benches in Division I last season, and that appears to be the case again. Hamilton used 12 players with eight seeing action for 13 minutes or more. FSU's bench had a 32-5 advantage.

UP NEXT

George Washington returns home on Saturday to face Hampton, who has split its first two games.

Florida State will play a pair of games in the Jamaica Classic in Montego Bay. The first one is on Friday against Fordham.