FSU Men's Basketball hopes to build on impressive win today vs. visiting Jackets
Lost at least a bit in the shadow of the near-brawl after Wednesday’s win over Pitt was just how well the Florida State men’s basketball team played for most of that night.
Especially on defense.
Coming off a less-than-stellar showing in a 20-point loss at Clemson last Saturday, the Seminoles played with as much fight and energy as they have all year on the defensive end. The result was an impressive 82-70 win over the Panthers that improved FSU’s record to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC.
The ‘Noles will look to get over .500 in conference play on Saturday with a home game against Georgia Tech (8-10, 2-5 in the ACC). Tipoff is scheduled for noon, and the game will air on ESPNU.
“I thought we showed a little bit of evidence of progress more mentally and emotionally than physically,” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said after Wednesday victory. “We didn’t get quicker or faster or stronger, but I thought we had a mind shift.
“Obviously, we were very disappointed in our performance at Clemson, and I thought our guys responded in a lot of ways with their effort, focus, their ability to communicate and hold each other accountable. And that’s the thing I was most impressed with.”
Despite a two-game losing streak at the time, Pitt came down to Florida State as one of the top offensive teams in the conference. The Panthers rank third in the ACC in scoring offense and second in field-goal percentage. They were also averaging just 10 turnovers per game.
On Wednesday night, against (for the most part) a suffocating Seminoles defense, the Panthers committed 17 turnovers — eight by star guard Jaland Lowe alone. Pitt also shot just 37.5 percent from the floor. And other than forward Jorge Diaz Graham going 4-of-5 from 3-point range (he had made just seven 3-pointers total since Nov. 18), the Panthers were just 25 percent from beyond the arc.
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“We had a lot of guys that gave us tremendous effort,” Hamilton said. “Overall, I think we showed some growth and maturity just in the way we responded.”
Now, Florida State has turned its attention to a Georgia Tech squad that is really struggling under second-year head coach Damon Stoudamire. The Yellow Jackets have lost three straight conference games since recording a 21-point win over Boston College to start the year.
The Jackets are also 0-5 in true road games this season, but one of those losses was just a 68-65 defeat at North Carolina back in early December.
The Yellow Jackets are led in scoring by guard Lance Terry, who is averaging 15.4 points per game. Fellow guard Nathan George is averaging 10.4 points per game and is one of the leaders in the conference in assists at 6.4 per contest.
Georgia Tech is coming off a 70-59 home loss to Clemson earlier this week.
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