Brandon Angel of the Stanford Cardinal had a career day with 22 points and scored 18 points in the second half against the Florida State Seminoles at Orlando during the ESPN Events Invitational on Fri Nov 25, 2022 (photo from Stanford Cardinal)

Stanford Tops Florida State 70-60

By Barbara Mason

Friday afternoon the Stanford Cardinal (3-3) dereated the Florida State Seminoles (1-6) at the ESPN EVENTS Invitational in Orlando 70-60. This was a quick turnaround for both teams.

The Cardinal lost a close one with multiple opportunities to close this game out but too many mistakes and turnovers decided the game in favor of Ole Miss 72-68 on Thursday. Florida State has been struggling all season being blown out from the start of the game against the Siena Saints 80-63 also on Thursday.

The Cardinal defeated the Seminoles by ten points. The Seminoles were looking to beat a Pac-12 team after a horrendous start this season but the couldn’t capitalize on the Cardinal.

Florida State had a nice start in this game leading 8-0 after four minutes of play. Stanford made up the deficit and for the remainder of the first half it was a see-saw game with lead changes throughout. In the final minute of the first half the Seminoles took the largest lead since the opening minutes of the game 27-21.

The second half was close until the ten-minute mark. Stanford turned this game around and threatened to blow Florida State out of the building. With 6:18 left in the game the Cardinal led 60-47. Stanford was dominating the glass but still had those turnovers which were leveled with numerous offensive rebounds.

The Cardinal had a 16-2 run going with six minutes left in the game. Stanford struggled from downtown going 3 of 24 but had success in the paint and they kept Florida playing from behind in the final 12 minutes of play. FSU had 15 turnovers and looked nothing like a team that wanted this win. The Cardinal will play a third game on Saturday at the Invitational.

This was a great win for Stanford and it was the play on the glass that won this game. They were awful from downtown going 3 of 26 but it was the offensive rebounds and shots in the paint that kept them in the game ultimately winning.

Brandon Angels had a huge game finishing with 22 points. Harrison Ingram and Michael Jones each had ten points. Ingram and James Keefe both had eight rebounds.

The Seminoles Caleb Mills had the high with 16 points followed by Cam’ron Fletcher who finished with 12 points. So the quandary continues for Florida State. Right now the team is a mess; still looking for answers.

Stanford will now go into their third game of this invitational taking on the winner of the Nebraska Memphis matchup this evening. The Cardinal’s third game will be on Sun Nov 27th at 8:00 AM.