Florida State Basketball: Seminoles look to knock off top-seed Xavier

Florida State was able to get by Missouri after a late scare and will advance to play Xavier on Sunday in the Second Round for a chance at getting to the Sweet 16.

Florida State is no longer matched up in your usual 8/9-1 game. No number one seed feels safe anymore after what UMBC did to Virginia. It was history on Friday night and now every team has all the confidence in the world when they get to play a one seed.

The Seminoles got their NCAA Tournament started with a 67-54 win over Missouri. Both these team came in not having much momentum at all. The Seminoles and Tigers got ousted right away in their conference tournaments. This was about an even as an 8-9 game was going to get. Until Missouri’s second-leading scorer went down. The Tigers were in bad shape with Jordan Barnett suspended and Michael Porter Jr. rusty.

Florida State certainly looked like the better team in the first half. The Seminoles definitely have the upper hand in-depth. They can play a solid four off the bench with three other guys making short appearances.  Florida State got almost twice as many points from their bench as they did starters.

Missouri went a 7-1 run to start the game. Leonard Hamilton had enough and brought in some of his bench guys. PJ Savoy then decided it was time for him to go off. He’s a six-foot-four junior guard who averages 6.4 points per game off the bench. Savoy scored 12 off the bench for the Seminoles including three three-pointers. They built a huge 42-20 lead at halftime.

More from Busting Brackets

• NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 5 teams for top-100 SG Larry Johnson
• Oregon Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24
• Big East Basketball: Ranking all head coaches going into 2023-24 season
• Florida State Basketball: Is Seminoles roster good enough to win in 2023-24?
• SEC Basketball: 10 potential additions for the league if they ever expanded

The Tigers wouldn’t go down quietly as they got 16 points from Michael Porter Jr. Missouri outscored Florida State 34-25 in the second half. The Seminoles continued to see production from their bench. The team shot a horrible 58% from the free throw line, but Mfiondu Kabengele led all Seminoles with 14 points with five coming from clutch free throws down the stretch.

The depth proved to be too much for Missouri and the Florida State stars didn’t have to do a whole lot.

Florida State will certainly need to see Phil Cofer, Terance Mann and Braian Angola-Rodas have big games against Xavier. The Musketeers had a slow start against Texas Southern, but pulled through and hung 100 on the Tigers.

Trevon Bluiett is the star of Xavier. The six-foot-six senior guard averages over 19 points per game, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists. What makes this team so dangerous is that he’s not their point guard. Quentin Goodin averages less than ten points per game, but has over 150 assists on the season.

It’s a good thing Florida State can go big with their top-three players. Mann is the same height and he’ll have to play Bluiett more than likely. The star for Xavier is so good off the ball. Florida State’s star guy will have one of the biggest defensive assignments of his life.

Bluiett has made over 100 three-pointers this season which is 40 more than the leading guy for Florida State. The Seminoles though have only made 14 less triples than the Musketeers. Xavier can get too reliant on Bluiett to make the play that the rest of the guys don’t have the numbers.

Certainly both squads can go deep. We saw Florida State use seven guys against Missouri. Four had double-digit minutes. Xavier can go a strong four off the bench. Michigan State is the only other team that I have seen this year with a deeper bench in terms of quality players.

Next: March Madness: Impact of UMBC’s historic upset over Virginia

Florida State is easily in this game with production from their bench. The Seminoles will have to match Xavier step for step. The Musketeers are going to want to push the ball like crazy. It’s good thing the Noles have that deep bench to keep fresh legs on the floor. They showed everyone on Friday night against Missouri what kind of bench they offer.

The Seminoles will be struggling for size against Xavier. The Musketeers have their top two guard in J.P. Macura and Bluiett, but they have to forces who are over six-foot-nine. Florida State can say they have good guard play, but their two guys over six-foot-nine are as productive.

Florida State has the ability to beat quality opponents. They did so against North Carolina and Clemson during ACC play. They will need big nights from their three star players, the supporting cast has to step up and their bench needs to add relief for the track meet that Xavier is about to put on the Seminoles.