M.J. Walker scored a game-high 17 points, leading the 22nd-ranked Florida State Seminoles to an 86-58 win over the visiting North Florida Ospreys in a nonconference game on Wednesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
FSU (1-0), which never trailed, won its 24th consecutive home game, a streak that began in January of 2019. This marked FSU’s latest season-opening date since 1975-1976.
This was also the collegiate debut of FSU’s Scottie Barnes, a 6-9 freshman forward who is projected by numerous mock drafts to be a first-round pick in 2021, likely among the top dozen picks.
Barnes, ranked as one of 50 players in the country on the Naismith Award watch list, posted eight points, a game-high six assists, six rebounds and just two turnovers.
Walker, a 6-5 senior shooting guard, shot 4-for-8 from the floor, including 3-for-5 on three-pointers. He also made 6-for-6 from foul line.
Balsa Koprivica, a 7-1 center, added 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks.
North Florida (0-4) is 0-21 against ACC opponents, including their past three games against North Carolina State, Miami and FSU.
Carter Hendricksen, North Florida’s leading scorer (17.3) and a three-point marksman (37.1 percent), was scratched two hours before the game due to a lower-body injury. Hendricksen, a 6-7 junior, was named a pre-season All-Atlantic Sun Conference selection.
