TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Daquan Davis scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, Jamir Watkins added 14 points and Florida State cruised past Western Carolina 91-57 on Tuesday.

Florida State opened the game on a 16-2 run after Western Carolina made just one of its first eight shots. Malique Ewin scored 10 of Florida State’s opening 12 points and it was 20-5 before WCU made its third field goal of the game at 11:29.

The Seminoles led 49-26 at halftime with 21 combined points from Ewin and Bostyn Holt. Six of WCU's nine made shots were from 3-point range as Florida State's size caused problems in the paint.

Florida State improved to 7-1 for the first time since the 2019-00 season.

Ewin finished with 12 points - all in the first half for FSU.

Brandon Morgan scored 13 points for Western Carolina (2-3), which was coming off an 82-69 defeat at Wake Forest last week. Ice Emery and Cord Stansberry each scored 10.

Florida State plays at LSU on Tuesday in the SEC/ACC Men’s Challenge. Western Carolina plays at No. 10 Marquette on Saturday.

HURRICANE RELIEF

The game was originally scheduled to be played at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina, before it was moved due to the effects of Hurricane Helene and the area’s recovery efforts. Florida State agreed to host at the Donald L. Tucker Center with the proceeds donated to the MANNA FoodBank in Asheville, which lost its facility due to the devastation caused by the hurricane.

---

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.