Florida State walked away from its Auburn exhibition with more than a win. It may have walked away with a new frontcourt talking point, too.
Freshman center Marcis Ponder turned heads by piling up 21 rebounds in the Seminoles’ 82-71 victory, and he didn’t stop there. He finished with 13 points and three blocked shots in 25 minutes, the kind of line that would look loud in any setting and looks even louder against an SEC opponent. For a Florida State team trying to keep moving forward under Luke Loucks, that kind of interior presence is hard to ignore.
Rebounding has a way of cutting straight to the point. It’s not a flashy stat, but it tells you a lot about a player’s timing, effort and ability to carve out space.
Ponder showed all of that against Auburn, using the game to establish himself as a young big man worth watching as the season gets closer. It doesn’t mean he’s about to become one of the ACC’s top frontcourt players overnight.
Exhibition games can fool you, and coaches are still sorting out rotations. But when a freshman controls the glass like that, it gets your attention fast.
Florida State had plenty of reasons to feel good beyond Ponder’s breakout. The Seminoles were down eight with about 15 minutes left before flipping the game completely, outscoring Auburn 44-25 the rest of the way. That matters, because it showed a team capable of adjusting and answering against a quality opponent rather than simply riding an early edge.
Kam Taylor led the way with 19 points, and he was perfect at the line, going 10-for-10. As a team, Florida State made 34 of 40 free throws, good for 85 percent. That kind of efficiency, paired with aggressive play around the basket, gave the Seminoles a strong offensive base in a game that could have gone sideways.
There was composure in the comeback, too. It’s only an exhibition, but erasing a deficit against a recognizable opponent still takes execution. Loucks can point to that stretch as a snapshot of the intensity and decision-making he wants his team to carry into the season.
Florida State also got another boost on the front line when forward Alex Steen became eligible to play after a temporary injunction. Steen started 29 games last season and averaged 6.8 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds. His return adds experience to a group that suddenly looks a little deeper and a little more interesting than it did before the Auburn game.
That frontcourt mix could matter once ACC play starts. League games tend to expose teams that can’t finish possessions or handle physical interior matchups, especially against veteran big men.
Steen brings experience, and Ponder just flashed a ceiling that was tough to miss. Loucks now has more options to work with as he figures out how those pieces fit together.
The bigger picture is just as intriguing. Florida State was picked seventh in the ACC preseason poll after finishing tied for seventh in the league in Loucks’ first season.
The Seminoles went 10-8 in conference play last year, and this preseason slot is their highest projection since 2022. That alone says something about how the program is being viewed entering year two.
So the Seminoles aren’t sneaking up on anyone anymore, but they’re also not being treated like one of the conference’s heavyweights. That middle ground can be useful if the team keeps building. Ponder’s performance only adds to the sense that Florida State may have more answers than the preseason chatter suggested.
One exhibition game won’t define a season. But 21 rebounds from a freshman center against Auburn is the kind of performance you remember when November arrives. Add in the comeback, the free-throw shooting and Steen’s availability, and Florida State has at least given itself a promising place to start.
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The biggest issue was the way LSU moved the ball, especially through the air, as quarterback Sam Leavitt threw for 387 yards and three touchdowns. Auburn had problems on both sides of the ball, struggling to slow the Tigers offense while also finding little rhythm in the run game, and the loss dropped Auburn to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the SEC with more questions than answers than they had after the Georgia win. [Read more 🡒]