Florida State Basketball: Seminoles keys to beat Vermont in Round of 64

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 15: Teammates Trent Forrest #3 and Mfiondu Kabengele #25 of the Florida State Seminoles react after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 69-59 in the semifinals of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 15, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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TALLAHASSEE, FL – JANUARY 12: PJ Savoy #5 of the Florida State Seminoles reacts after a three pointer against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center on January 12, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

3. Speed up the tempo and build a large lead early

March Madness is not a time to mess around. Every team goes into their first game believing they can win. With UMBC’s performance last season, now more than ever teams have hope that they can make the next Cinderella run. Fail to take the hope away early, and hope will develop into confidence in the second half.

Florida State needs to go into this game and stifle any dreams of an upset early on, and they can do so by speeding up the tempo. Vermont is ranked 286th in the country in pace according to KenPom out of 352 teams, and while Florida State is not any incredibly fast paced team themselves, 134th in pace, they have a deep bench and can afford to run Vermont out of the game. Coach Leonard has kept his bench 10 deep all season and now is when it can pay off.

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Take the lead early with a fast tempo and eliminate any panic or doubt from your own side, and any hope coming from the other. This is not the time to sleep walk through the first half assuming you can pull away in the second.

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