DePaul vs. Florida State recap: Seminoles knock off Blue Demons in Virgin Islands

DePaul's Paradise Jam woes have continued, as the Blue Demons dropped their second game in as many days, falling to Florida State by a 83-67 margin.

The Blue Demons traded buckets with FSU for the first few minutes, but, eventually, Florida State's offensive firepower got to be too much for DePaul to keep up with.

On one hand, this loss can be seen as demoralizing for the Blue Demons. It's never fun to lose, especially when you go to another country and do it. Same as Friday's loss to South Carolina. However, there's something important to keep in mind.

Florida State is currently 41st in the nation, according to Ken Pomeroy. South Carolina is 42nd. DePaul is 127th. So there's a wide gap between DePaul, and their two previous opponents. Just something to keep in mind.

Here are three things we learned from this game.

Tommy Hamilton's mysterious absence

Hamilton, the junior big man who has started every game for the Blue Demons so far this season, played a grand total of zero minutes in this game, even though he was on the bench.

It's easy to speculate on what Hamilton's status is. But, when it comes down to it, there are only three options.

Hamilton could be hurt, suspended, or sick.

Whatever the case is, and I'm sure DePaul coach Dave Leitao will let everyone know, the Blue Demons struggled mightily in Hamilton's absence. DePaul was outrebounded by a 29-20 (UPDATE) margin, and FSU turned eight offensive rebounds into 10 second chance points.

We've discussed previously how DePaul isn't very deep in terms of experienced big men. When one of your tallest and most experienced players can't play, for whatever reason, a domino effect is created.

Myke Henry and Billy Garrett were able to score 15 and 12, respectively, but without Hamilton's presence, their impact was lessened.

Aaron Simpson also added 20 points for the Blue Demons

Florida State is going to be a scary team

The Seminoles came into the season with a lot of hype. They were returning the bulk of their team, plus adding a high-caliber recruiting class.

Then, they dropped their Paradise Jam opener to Hofstra, and everyone was ready to hop off the bandwagon.

Don't do that. This team is going to be scary come March. A big reason why? Freshman Dwayne Bacon.

Bacon had 19 points on 6-7 shooting, along with five rebounds tonight (both team leads). Everything he did looked effortless.

Keep in mind that he's a freshman and will only get better as the season progresses, and Florida State looks like a contender in the ACC.

Looking ahead

DePaul's last chance to leave the Virgin Islands with a victory will come Monday against the Norfolk State Spartans.

The Spartans, from the MEAC, are 1-3 so far on the young campaign. Senior guard Charles Oliver is their leading scorer at 16.0 PPG.

DePaul and Norfolk State have never faced off. However, Dave Leitao was an assistant coach at Missouri when Norfolk State upset the Tigers in the 2012 NCAA Tournament