No. 11 Florida State looks for fifth straight win vs. North Florida

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida State men's basketball team's eight-game home winning streak was tested Monday by Southeast Missouri State, but the No. 11 Seminoles found a way to turn an 11-point first-half deficit into a 17-point win, 85-68, to move to 9-1.

But they won't have much time to enjoy that victory.

Florida State has to turn around and play again Wednesday night against neighboring North Florida, a Division I program located just a couple hours away in nearby Jacksonville.

The Seminoles were favored by 25 1/2 points against the Red Hawks on Monday, and are once again double-digit favorites Wednesday. But the game against Southeast Missouri State reminded Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton you can never look ahead in the non-conference schedule.

"It was one of those grinding games that I think is good for this team this time of year to keep us focused and understand we're still a work in progress," Hamilton told FoxSports.com. "We have some moving parts that still are developing."

The Seminoles were led by guard Trent Forrest with 23 points, but perhaps the bigger story was the non-factor last year's leading scorer, forward Phil Cofer, was in the win. Cofer missed the first nine games of the season with a foot injury, but he made his season debut Monday -- although he failed to score or get a rebound.

Hamilton didn't seem alarmed, however.

"He had great shots," Hamilton said of Cofer, who led the Seminoles in scoring last season at 12.1 points per game. "He had good effort. I just didn't want to push it. We want to ease him back into the flow. We need him for the long haul."

The Ospreys enter the game with a 5-7 record overall and a 1-6 mark on the road, and they haven't had much luck in the past against the Seminoles.

Wednesday night's game is just the fourth meeting between the two programs, with the series starting in 2010. Florida State is not only 3-0 against the Ospreys, but all three wins have come in Tallahassee at the Donald L. Tucker Center, where Florida State is 36-2 over the last three seasons.

But there's also another stat that isn't in North Florida's favor coming into this matchup: The Seminoles have won 30 consecutive non-conference home games and have only dropped one, non-Atlantic Coast Conference contest since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, going 38-1 over that span.

The Ospreys are coming off a win in their last game Saturday against Charleston Southern, rallying late for a 68-61 victory to snap a two-game skid. Ospreys head coach Matthew Driscoll was elated after the victory and hopes it will help his team build some momentum to close out its non-conference schedule strong.

"This is a huge, huge, huge victory. Sometimes, I think people don't understand the day-to-day toughness that these guys have to go through," Driscoll said. "Folks don't understand these guys traveled to Minnesota for a game, had a 3:30 AM wakeup, got into Miami late and weren't able to practice on the floor. Then played FIU and rode the bus home to get back at four in the morning and having to prep for a game against a team like Charleston Southern."

Forwards Noah Horchler and Wajid Aminu both posted double-doubles for North Florida as Horchler finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Aminu pitched in with 13 points and 10 boards.

Following Wednesday's game against the Ospreys, the Seminoles will travel to Sunrise, Fla., to play Saint Louis in the Metro by T-Mobile Orange Bowl Classic at the BB&T Center. Florida State's game against the Billekins marks their seventh consecutive appearance in the event.

North Florida's next game after Florida State will come following a 10-day break, and it could be an even tougher challenge than Florida State. The Ospreys travel to face No. 7 Auburn on Dec. 29.