Florida State Basketball: Seminoles take on Missouri in first round of 2018 NCAA Tournament
Florida State wasn’t as sure as they were last year about making the Tournament, but in 2018 the Seminoles are back in the big dance.
Florida State tied for second in the ACC with a 12-6 record last season. The Seminoles landed a three seed in the NCAA Tournament and made it to the second round. They had a great team with their top three players all getting drafted into the NBA. FSU knew it was going to be tough sledding coming into this season.
Terance Mann was their glimmering of hope for this season. Mann was going to have to be the guy for Florida State if they wanted any chance at getting back to the big dance. Mann was the only returning starter. The rest of the returning cast only averaged 29 points per game combined.
Preseason standings had the Seminoles projected to finish 10th in the ACC. They were supposed to finish under .500 in the conference. I personally didn’t think was going to be as bad as most thought, but I was certainly in the minority.
Florida State started the season 9-0 including a big victory over the fifth ranked team at the time, Florida. They even jumped up in to the polls and were originally ranked 19th for their efforts. Their only non-conference loss came on a neutral court to Oklahoma State. Florida State then fell to 24th for three weeks, went to 23rd, but then dropped out once they got into the heart of conference play.
The Seminoles are thankful they play in a great conference like the other eight teams who reached the NCAA Tournament. There are good opponents night in and night out. Florida State fell to Duke in one game and then defeated North Carolina in the next.
Florida State hit a lull in the middle of January. The Seminoles had a 13-5 overall record and 2-4 in conference after losing to Boston College. The Eagles were having an alright season, but it certainly wasn’t a loss FSU wanted to go two games under .500 in league play.
Their hopes of making the Tournament were in jeopardy. They were still probably projected to be in, but momentum seemed to be slipping.
The very next game was against another bubble team. The Seminoles traveled to Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech. Florida State found an answer from an unlikely candidate. Freshman M.J. Walker came off the bench and dropped 24 points. He’d only been in double-figures six times previously. M.J. Walker scored four field goals, three-pointers and free throws in a nine-point shootout.
The win over the Hokies sparked a three-game winning streak. Any winning streak in the ACC is hard to come by. Mann then was the star the next night as he dropped 30 against Georgia Tech. Phil Cofer had to step up and be the man in the third game of the winning streak which was an overtime affair. Florida State scored 102 and Cofer dropped 21.
Cofer has been the star of this Florida State team this season. He saw a regression in his point totals each of his last three seasons because of good young talent coming in. The senior finally took it upon himself to be the leading scorer in his final season at Florida State. He’s averaging 13 points per game, 5 rebounds and has made 45 shots from deep.
There’s a second senior who’s been right near the top of Florida State scoring as well. Braian Angola-Rodas is averaging just less than 13 points per game and runs their point. He dishes out 3 assists per game while knocking down almost two three-pointers.
The Seminoles reentered the polls the week of February 19 and sat at 25 for one week. They had just knocked off 11th ranked Clemson and improved to 19-8 with a win over Pitt. They went on to lose their next two out of three including one to Clemson, but Florida State seemed safe.
FSU drew Louisville in the second round of the ACC Tournament as the 8-9 matchup. The starters couldn’t hit a shot and Louisville won which seemed to be because the Cardinals were playing for their Tournament lives. Louisville didn’t end up getting in anyways.
So the Seminoles will be the eight seed in the West and open up against Missouri. The Tigers are having a great season under Cuonzo Martin in his first season. Missouri only won eight games last season. This year they won 20 and are a nine seed.
There was a big deal surrounding Michael Porter Jr. at the beginning of the season. He’s barely played and it’s actually been his brother, Jontay, who’s been the star. Recent events may not show the complete story in the tournament of this great turnaround.
Michael Porter Jr. returned for the SEC Tournament, but he had a lot of rust. Missouri’s second-leading scorer, Jordan Barnett, was arrested Saturday morning on suspicion of DWI and won’t be available for the game against Florida State.
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It’ll be a close battle between the ACC and SEC. Both teams have been comfortably in for most of the season. Missouri hasn’t been ranked at all this season. Florida State was for a few weeks, but barely ever in the top-20. These were expected seeds for both teams also once Missouri knew they were going to be without Michael Porter Jr. for most of the season.
Florida State is going to look to use their top-two seniors who are both available for the game on Friday. Mann rounds out the top three upperclassmen and they’re poised to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.