With UNC beating Virginia, the Seminoles needed to knock off the hottest team in the ACC in order to remain tied atop the conference standings. And they did just that, using suffocating defense to defeat the Hurricanes 64-59 in a 65 possession game. FSU (17-7, 8-2) held Miami (15-8, 6-4) to 5-23 (22%) shooting from deep, and forced turnovers on 23% of their possessions. The 0.91 points they scored per possession is the 2nd fewest since the return of center Reggie Johnson 14 games ago. FSU fronted Johnson all game, even out beyond 15', and did a great job preventing him from ever touching the ball. He scored a season low 4 points. Point guard Shane Larkin had arguably the worst game of his career, scoring 5 points on 1-9 shooting. He had one assist and two turnovers.

The game was close in the final minutes because of missed FTs. FSU made 5-9 down the stretch, and missed the front end of a 1-and-1. But the defense was elite, forcing Miami to burn clock and put up contested shots.

FSU's offense was plagued by careless turnovers (24.6%, right about their season average) including 7 from Bernard James. Still, the Noles were able to take advantage of Reggie Johnson's immobility by pounding the ball in to James, as Johnson doesn't have the quickness to play in front of James. Bernard scored 18 points and added six boards and four blocks. Michael Snaer (12) and Ian Miller (11) were also in double figures, and Luke Loucks played an exceptional game on both ends of the floor. He finished with 7 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 0 turnovers.

FSU gets to stay home, where they're 5-0 in the ACC, to take on Virginia Tech on Thursday.

A hot shooting Boston College combined with a poorly focused Florida State ended FSU's longest ever ACC win streak at 7 games. Though FSU (16-7, 7-2) is still tied atop the conference standings. But now the competition gets stiffer. In come the Miami Hurricanes (15-7, 6-3) who are on a winning streak of their own. They've won 5-straight ACC games, a first, and appear on their way to their first ever winning ACC season.

The Canes are led by first year head coach Jim Larranaga. In my evaluation of his hiring, I finished with this statement:

Should Larranaga improve Miami to a top-50 defense they’ll be playing in the NCAA Tournament 11 months from now.

Miami didn't play defense under Frank Haith. Last season they were 99th. This year they're 65th. Which means, according to my prediction, they should be a bubble team. The reality? They're a bubble team.

The important thing to note is that Reggie Johnson - who rivals Tyler Zeller as the best center in the ACC - missed the first nine games due to offseason knee surgery. And DeQuan Jones missed the first ten due to an investigation into whether or not his family got paid during his recruitment. Both of those players are back, and both are key to Miami's continuing improvement on the defensive end. They have a decent chance to finish the season among the nation's top-50 defenses. If you limit their season to just conference games (after the players returned) then Miami is 4th, behind Virginia, Florida State and North Carolina. During Miami's 5-game winning streak the only team to score more than a point per possession against them is Duke (1.01), and the Blue Devils have the best offense in the conference.

In short, this defense presents a big challenge for Florida State.

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In preparation for tomorrow's huge game with Miami, we spoke with the guys over at Category 6, an excellent blog covering the Hurricanes. Check the links below this story to find more coverage of the game, including a film breakdown of Miami's offense, and of course our answers to their questions. As always, the preview and game thread will come two hours before tip.

Coach Larranaga has done an excellent job this season. Miami has been shorthanded for a good part of the year due to injuries/suspensions, etc. Other then the NC State game, the 'Canes has played with great effort in every contest. Coach L often says something to the bench that draws big laughs, but also appears to know when to be firm. Turnovers are down this year, execution on both ends is improved (impressive considering a new system) and the team seems to come out of timeouts more focused. With Coach L extended now through 2019 we expect him to continue to bring energy to the program, and hopefully take the 'Canes to the next level. We hope winning at Duke is a sign of things to come.

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FSU's 1st ever 7-game conference winning streak ended tonight against one of three teams tied in the conference cellar. Boston College made 10-22 3s and 16-23 FTs to beat FSU 64-60. Jordan Daniels and Lonnie Jackson combined to make 7-12 3s, and dribble penetration by the Eagles pushed FSU's defense into reaction mode all night.

On the offensive end, FSU's shots just didn't drop. The best 3-point shooting team in the ACC made only 5-20 from beyond the arc. Michael Snaer led FSU with 16 points, but made only 6-18 shots. Bernard James and Ian Miller each scored 12.

FSU now falls to 7-2 in conference play, with a huge game at home against the surging Miami Hurricanes on Sunday.

For the first time since 1998 the Seminoles are ranked in the AP top-15. How are they rewarded? By playing an untelevised game. That's right, your option for watching the Noles going for their 8th straight conference win is either through your computer or your X-box, and that's if you happen to get ESPN3. The Noles will also be competing with Georgetown/Syracuse and Kansas/Baylor for viewers, so it's safe to say that not many people will see what happens tonight in Chestnut Hill.

Boston College (7-16, 2-7) is currently at the bottom of the ACC. They've lost to Holy Cross, Penn State, Boston University, Providence, Rhode Island, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. Entering conference play their signature win was against Stony Brook. Somehow they managed to beat Clemson and Virginia Tech in back-to-back home games, but have since lost six straight. Their level of suck is really no surprise, as BC has 10 new players on their roster, and their only returning players weren't ACC quality starters.

Their problems are deepest on the offensive end. Only two BCS conference programs have worse offenses, and both of those schools (Utah and USC) are in the horrible Pac-12. BC is averaging 0.85 points per possession in conference play, which is the worst since advanced stats became available. Not only have they failed to score a point per possession in any conference game, they've only scored more than 0.90 once. For reference, FSU scored 0.90 in the Princeton game. Their leading scorer, Oregon transfer Matt Humphrey, averages 10.1 points per game. They're 224th shooting 2s, 222nd shooting 3s, 300th in turnovers and 341st in offensive rebounding. FSU should shut this team down.

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Everyone predicted that this would be an ugly game, and everyone was right. Of course, with two offenses ranked worse than 80th against two defenses in the top-10, that prediction wasn't a hard one to make. In a matchup between two ranked teams the Seminoles defense was at their best and the offense did just enough to win. The final was 58-55, and the game was every bit as close as the final score.

FSU won their 7th straight ACC game for the first time in school history, and extended their best conference start to 7-1.

The two teams combined for 40 turnovers (Virginia had 21 and FSU had 19) in a 63 possession game. But the Noles extended 8 possessions with offensive boards, while UVA only grabbed four. These small in-game differences bought FSU some key possessions, and then the Noles were able to make just enough free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

In the first half FSU repeatedly kept forcing passes into the post which resulted in turnovers. Not only were many of them on bad angles, but they were often into double and even triple teams as most of the UVA defense plays within a step of the paint. That was changed in the second half, and FSUs post players would get position high in the lane for a lob over the top. Unfortunately, the execution wasn't there. Several more turnovers ensued, including a crucial one with FSU up a possession with :38 seconds left. FSU's defense got a stop, Deividas Dulkys made a free throw to push the lead to two possessions. Malcolm Brogdon made a three to cut the lead to 3 points with :02 seconds left. Michael Snaer missed the front end of a one-and-one, and UVA's desperation heave bounced off the front rim. Noles win.

Okaro White had his best game of the season with 13 points on 5-6 shooting and 5 rebounds, including three on the offensive end. Xavier Gibson was the only other Seminole player in double figures with 10. FSU made 5-12 from beyond the arc (41.7%), extending their conference leading 3-point shooting.

Inside, a couple of videos. The crowd was lively.

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Seven games into the conference season and FSU finds itself in a place it’s never been. The Noles are 6-1 for the first time in their ACC history, they’ve won 6 straight ACC games for the 2nd time ever, and now they have a chance to move to 7-1 and own the tiebreaker over the other three ranked teams. But to do it they have to go through the Virginia Cavaliers who not only have the best defense in the ACC, but have the best player.

Senior big man Mike Scott is the ACC Player of the Year to this point. Scott is averaging 17 points and 8.3 boards a game. He’s had six double-doubles, and has been in double figures scoring in every ACC game. He makes 59% of his 2s and 81% of his FTs. At 6’8 he can take most bigs off the dribble, he has a great mid-range game and an unstoppable fade-away. His offensive rating, offensive rebound % and defensive rebound % are all in the top-6 in the conference, and he draws more fouls than everyone besides Terrell Stoglin. In short, Scott is a beast. He sat out most of last season with an injury, so this will be the first time he matches up with Bernard James and Okaro White. How coach Hamilton chooses to defend him will be one of the more interesting storylines of the game.

FSU has won 5-straight in this series. FSU won at home last year 63-56 in a game where Chris Singleton broke his foot.

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The Seminoles (14-6, 5-1) enter tonight's matchup with Georgia Tech (8-13, 1-6) on a 5-game winning streak. It's been 19 years since the Noles won 6 straight in conference play. The Yellow Jackets are a struggling team, having lost 9 of 10. Oddly, their only win came on the road versus a solid North Carolina State team. Hopefully that will be enough to catch the Noles attention and keep them from taking Georgia Tech lightly.

Tech has two players averaging double figures in juniors Glen Rice Jr and Mfon Udofia. Rice (note - Mike Gminski reporting that Rice is out for tonight's game) leads the team at 13.1 but he's yet to display the 3-pt prowess he had as a freshman. He's also been hobbled with a foot injury. Udofia is a turnover prone guard who shoots too many 3s. As you might guess from my comments (or lack thereof) about their two best players, Georgia Tech is a bad offensive team. They're 181st nationally, and the problem is turnovers (270th), inability to get to the line (287th) and lack of an outside threat (268th). They've been held below a point per possession in four of their past five games, and if the Noles are focused then it will be five of six after tonight.

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