NC State Wolfpack vs. Florida State Seminoles
Time: 4:00pm
Location: Raleigh, NC
TV: ACCN
Line: FSU -2.5
NC State takes the floor against FSU today, looking for their first conference win.
The Seminoles come in 6-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Their only notable win is over a struggling Missouri squad, and they have losses to Syracuse, South Carolina and #3 Purdue (who NC State took into overtime and FSU lost to by 28).
Florida State doesn’t really have a superstar this season, but they do have four pretty decent scorers. Caleb Mills, a 6’5 sophomore, leads the team at 12.2ppg. He is a Houston transfer who is athletic, quick, and can score at all 3 levels. Then there is 6’9 senior, Malik Osborn, who is averaging 12 points and 7 boards on the season. He is the main guy NC State needs to worry about since the Pack has struggled against quality bigs all season long.
After those two, you have PG Anthony Polite who is averaging 10 points, 5 boards and 3 assists per game, and 6’7 freshman guard, Matthew Cleveland.
This is a team that is long and athletic, but not very disciplined. They average almost 14 turnovers per game, making them a team that NC State matches up well against.
For NC State…
The key is going to be speeding up FSU and making them take poor shots. Keeping them out of the lane is key. They, like NC State, tend to play a lot of one on one ball at the top of the key. Keeping them in front and making them shoot over the top is key.
FSU, as we said, will turn it over, so applying pressure to their guards in the backcourt will likely be Keatts gameplan.
On the boards, NC State needs to get better. Dowuona hasn’t done a great job of cleaning up the glass in ACC play so far, and Osborn is a pretty elite rebounder. If they can’t keep off the boards, it’s going to be a long night.
Lastly, we think a big key is going to be getting Seabron touches. Over the past few games, NC State has for some reason, not run their offense through their star. If they are going to win this game, Seabron is going to need to dominate the basketball on the perimeter and up his volume.
This is a winnable game for the Wolfpack, but they’ll need to clean up their mistakes and make sure they don’t get into too many of those scoring droughts that have plagued them all season long.
52% FG and 44% 3PT this year. 2 point loss. This team cannot catch a break. Sad.
Remembering last year’s game. We shot 44% FG and 42% 3PT AND LOST BY 30!!!