Daquan Davis scored 19 points off the bench to pace another balanced scoring effort for host Florida State to lead the Seminoles to a 91-57 rout of Western Carolina on Tuesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida State (7-1) continued to gain early-season momentum as it won its fourth game in a row. It is the Seminoles’ best start since the 2019-20 season.
Western Carolina (2-3) dropped its second in a row as it continues a difficult road stretch.
The Seminoles never trailed in the game and finished with 11 players scoring points and six players scoring eight or more points.
Brandon Morgan totaled 13 points and had two assists to lead the Catamounts. Ice Emery and Cord Stansberry each totaled 10 points and three rebounds.
Jamir Watkins continued his prolific start to the season with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds. Watkins helped Florida State gain a significant edge throughout the game with solid outside shooting as he made 4 of 6 three-pointers.
Malique Ewin, who has come on strong for Florida State in recent games, continued his stellar play with 12 points and four rebounds in only 18 minutes. Ewin scored 10 of the Seminoles’ first 12 points and keyed a 16-3 run to open the game, which put them comfortably ahead quickly.
The Catamounts were able to cut the deficit to seven with 10:14 left in the first half and then eight with 8:06 left. But Florida State would score nine consecutive points to break the game open.
Bostyn Holt had nine points and Chandler Jackson had eight as the Seminoles shot a staggering 57.4 percent (31 for 54) from the field and made 9 of 21 3-pointers. Western Carolina made eight triples, but shot only 8 of 36 from that range.
Florida State will next travel to Baton Rouge, La. to take on LSU next Tuesday as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge. Western Carolina will take on an even bigger challenge on Saturday when it hits the road to face No. 10 Marquette.