For the second year in a row, Florida State basketball participated in the Ballin in Boutwell preseason exhibition at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Ala. The Seminoles took on the Auburn University Tigers as they enter 2026 under second-year head coach Luke Loucks. FSU took down the Tigers 82-71 behind a double-double from freshman center Marcis Ponder.
Loucks led the ’Noles to an 18-15 overall record and 10-8 record in the ACC in 2025. Loucks, at 36 years old, is the youngest coach in the Power Four and looks to improve upon the 10 ACC wins in 2026, which was the most in program history by a first year head coach.
“It’s fun getting our real game jerseys on for the first time,” Loucks said postgame. “Being in a really cool venue against a good opponent in Auburn, who finished the year as hot as anyone, won the NIT.”
Ponder dazzles in debut
Loucks drew up a starting five consisting of four transfers and one true freshman. Ponder, who stands at 7-feet and 285 pounds, dazzled in his debut for the Garnet and Gold. Ponder brought down 15 of Florida State’s 28 rebounds in the first half, including nine offensive rebounds.
“[Marcis] had nine offensive rebounds in the first half, which is absurd,” Loucks said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that at any level. To finish the game with 20+ rebounds against [Auburn] who had two huge bigs and to see him operate the way he did, I’m super happy.”
The four other starters were all transfers, as sophomore forward Shon Abaev, junior guard Kameron Taylor, senior guard Anthony Robinson II, and junior forward Sebastian Rancik rounded out the starting five. Robinson and Rancik, who represented the Seminoles at the ACC Tip-off, combined for 10 points, two rebounds, and two assists in the first half.
More: What Sebastian Rancik brings to FSU and why fans should be excited
First half struggles for both teams
Both FSU and Auburn struggled shooting from the field and protecting the ball in the first half. The ’Noles shot 27.8% from the field, 27.3% from three, and turned the ball over eight times. Auburn shot 40% from the field and turned the ball over seven times.
“As a team, we always want to win a possession battle, and really that comes down to rebounding and turnover margin,” Loucks said. “I think we won both tonight by a pretty good margin, and on nights like tonight where you can’t hit a shot and your shooting percentages stink, it’s really nice.”
The Garnet and Gold controlled the early part of the first half, jumping out to a 22-13 lead before Auburn finished the first half on a 24-10 run. Florida State went into halftime trailing 37-32, as Ponder and Robinson led the team in scoring with seven points each.
The Seminoles took their first lead of the second half with 12:33 remaining courtesy of an and-one from Abaev. FSU found itself trailing 48-43 with 13:57 remaining, before going on a 10-0 run as Abaev led the run with five points.
Kameron Taylor leads second half charge
Taylor, who transferred this past offseason from University of North Carolina Asheville, found his footing as he led the ’Noles with 14 points in the second half, and led the Garnet and Gold in scoring with 19 points.
Following the 10-0 run, Florida State would not trail again behind improved offensive play and success at the free throw line, going 34-40 from the stripe. The Seminoles also managed to turn defense into offense, forcing 11 Auburn turnovers and converting those into 10 points on the other end.
“Our whole thing has been defense and rebounding so far in preseason," Loucks said. “I know our offense will come along because we’ve got a lot of talent. I like our system, the way we play, but if we don’t get those stops and we finish those possessions, we’ve got no chance against anyone.”
Starting five paves way for Seminoles
Ponder added six more rebounds in the second half, as he tallied 21 total boards, 12 of those offensive. Ponder was one of four FSU players to notch double digit points, joining Taylor, Rancik, and Abaev. Abaev tallied 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists as he shot 5-16 from the field. Auburn junior guard Tahaad Pettiford led all scorers with 20 points.
“Kam, Shon, and Sebastian are huge for us because they all have positional size, they’re all athletic, and really can get up and down in the style we want to play,” Loucks said. “For all those guys to shoot poorly, what they did was they didn’t let that affect their defense.”
The ’Noles notched 14 points from the bench, as freshmen guards Martay Barnes, Elisèe Assui, and Brandon Bass Jr. all saw time on the court. Assui tallied 20 minutes off the bench, the most from a non-starter. The 6-foot-5 true freshman from Varese, Italy went 1-3 from the field and 0-2 in his debut for the Garnet and Gold.
The exhibition victory against Auburn gave Loucks and Florida State fans a glimpse of what they could expect from the 2026 ’Noles. After travelling to Alabama to face Auburn, the Seminoles will return to the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center to face Louisiana State University in their final exhibition game on Saturday Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.
Cole Kruger is the Sports Editor for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
This article originally appeared on FSU News: Ponder notches double-double, FSU takes down Auburn 82-71