Florida State men’s basketball (14-14, 7-8) begins the first of two on the road with a Noon matchup against Georgia Tech (11-17, 2-13) on Saturday.
The Seminoles are coming off a difficult loss to Miami on Tuesday, as Luke Loucks’ crew battled for most of the second half but ultimately could not get over the hump and wrestle the lead away from Miami, falling 83-73. In his postgame press conference with the local Tallahassee media, the head coach rightfully stated that he did not want the loss to UM to take away the momentum the Noles have built over the last six weeks of the season, and today should be the perfect “get-right” game for his team.
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FSU’s winning streak over Miami snapped in 83-73 loss
Georgia Tech sits last in the ACC with a 2-13 record and is almost guaranteed to be eliminated from the ACC tournament with its final three games against Florida State, Cal and Clemson. The Yellow Jackets are winless since a January 17th upset victory over NC State on the road, losers of nine games in a row. This season will be the third-straight campaign GT finished .500 or below and head coach Damon Stoudamire’s fate seems to be written.
Even with the two schools trending in opposite directions, Florida State is only a 6.5-point favorite over Georgia Tech according to ESPN Bet.
How to watch:
Today’s game tips off at Noon ET on ACC Network.
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Notes to know:
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The final three games of the season for Florida State will be about its seeding in the ACC tournament. After starting conference play 0-5, the Seminoles vaulted themselves into contention for a bye to begin the tournament and are well off the cut line. After the loss to Miami, FSU currently sits in 10th place in the conference heading into Saturday’s games, one back of Cal and SMU and tied with Virginia Tech. Although Cal gets Pitt at home, SMU and VT are on the road against Stanford and North Carolina, respectively, meaning today could be a massive opportunity to pick up a game in the standings.
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Florida State has not faced Georgia Tech in over a calendar year, with the last matchup between the sides coming in January 2025, a Seminole victory. The Noles have not gone to Atlanta since the 2023-2024 season and have not left the state of Georgia with a win since the 2018-2019 campaign. In fact, FSU is only 6-12 all-time on the road against the Yellow Jackets. Loucks has done an excellent job of trying to rewrite the history of Florida State’s basketball program in year one, and will need to do that again tonight.
Players to know:
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F Kowacie Reeves Jr.: If this name sounds familiar, it should, as Reeves Jr. began his career at Florida before playing his final three seasons at Georgia Tech. The Marietta native leads Georgia Tech’s offense, averaging 14.7 points per game on 45%/38%/77% splits to go along with 3.7 rebounds a night, and the most minutes on the team.
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F Baye Ndongo: A rarity in college basketball, Ndongo has been with the Yellow Jackets for three seasons and is a double-figure scorer in all of them. The 6’9” junior may be the most productive player for GT, averaging 12.7 points per game with 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Those rebound numbers are not inflated as he crashed the offensive glass to the tune of 3.0 per game. After rebounding was the culprit for FSU’s loss against Miami, Florida State needs to locate #11 at the end of every possession.
