Monday's basketball: Forrest helps Florida State beat SE Missouri
Tallahassee, Fla. — Trent Forrest scored a career high 23 points and freshman Devin Vassell added 16 points as No. 11 Florida State overcame a sluggish first half and beat Southeast Missouri 85-68 on Monday night.
Forrest shot 8 for 12 from the floor, and had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists to help the Seminoles (9-1) win their fourth straight.
Florida State secured its 30th straight non-conference home win. Nebraska is the last non-conference team to defeat the Seminoles, 70-65 on Dec. 1, 2014.
Ledarrius Brewer scored 16 points and Skyler Hogan added 14 points for Southeast Missouri (5-7).
Christ Koumadje added seven rebounds as Florida State outrebounded the undersized Redhawks 46-28.
Southeast Missouri led 47-42 with 14:46 to go but Florida State went on a 12-0 run to take control for good.
The Seminoles shot 50 percent (31 for 62). They were just 1 for 12 on 3-pointers in the first half before finishing 6 for 24.
Florida State senior forward Phil Cofer played for the first time this season after missing nine games due to a preseason foot injury. Cofer didn’t have a point or rebound in five minutes.
More Top 25
(At) Vanderbilt 81, No. 18 Arizona State 65: Saben Lee scored 14 points to lead five players in double figures. Vanderbilt snapped an eight-game skid against ranked opponents that dated to an overtime win over Florida in the 2017 Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Commodores (7-2) also beat Arizona State for the first time in five tries on the Sun Devils’ first visit to Memorial Gym.
The Commodores had a big night from beyond the arc, hitting 6 of 12 from deep in the first half and 12 of 28 for the game.
Aaron Nesmith added 13 points off the bench for Vanderbilt. Yanni Wetzell had 12, and Matt Ryan and Joe Toye had 11 each.
Arizona State, which moved up two spots in the AP Top 25 earlier Monday, has lost two of three.
Rob Edwards led Arizona State with 14 points. Luguentz Dort came in as the fourth-highest freshman scorer in the nation averaging 20.9 points, but he had just 10 points. Zylan Cheatham had 14 rebounds.
This was the first game after the Commodores’ 12-day break for finals and is the second part of a home-and-home deal with Arizona State. The Sun Devils won 76-64 in Tempe last season.
Arizona State opened by scoring the first nine points as Vanderbilt missed its first six shots. After that, the Commodores finished the first half outscoring the Sun Devils 34-19, including an 18-3 run over the final 6:49.
Vanderbilt pushed that to 37-28 when Ryan hit a 3 to open the second half. Dort scored five straight points to pull Arizona State within 37-34, but that was as close as the Sun Devils got until Edwards and Kimani Lawrence hit back-to-back 3s with 3:53 left to pull within 62-59.
Simisola Shittu answered with a layup, and Toye knocked down a 3 as Vanderbilt pushed the lead back to double digits.
Big Ten
(At) Northwestern 88, Chicago State 46: Freshman Miller Kopp scored a career-high 17 points and Vic Law added 17. Northwestern (8-3) methodically built its lead and separated with a 13-4 run to end the first half. The Wildcats knocked off their rust, as they hadn’t played since Dec. 8 due to final exams.
Chicago State (3-10) hung around early but couldn’t overcome 18 turnovers, as it trailed 44-27 at the half. Northwestern took advantage with 24 points off turnovers and only gave the ball away eight times.
State women
(At) Oakland 64, Rochester 46: Taylor Jones scored 15 and Kahlaijah Dean 14 as the Golden Grizzlies (3-8) routed Rochester (12-5).
(At) Bowling Green 79, Detroit Mercy 73: Lexey Tobel scored 19 and Zoey Oatis 17 for the Titans (2-8).