And then there was one. In the regular season finale, the Seminoles head to Miami to take on the Hurricanes and continue their winning ways. While it wasn't pretty against the Demon Deacons, the Seminoles took care of business and kept pace in the ACC standings. With a win today and a Clemson loss on Sunday, Florida State will finish third in the ACC.
vs
Game Time: 12:00pm EST
Opponent's Site: Seventh Floor Blog
Television: ESPN2
Live Stats: scacchoops.com
In a season that had a lot of up and downs for the Seminoles, they can end the season on a high note with a two game winning streak and the possibility of finishing third in the standings. While it may not seem that this team should finish third in the conference, they have battled their way through a highly unpredictable, volatile ACC conference schedule and are in position to win 10 conference games for the second season in a row. It may not have been the prettiest basketball and was maddening to watch at times, the Seminoles got the job done when they needed to. Clearly, there were a few games that Semionles' fans want back, ones that even a modest field goal percentage might have resulted in a win. Despite all of the questions, broken remotes and gray hairs, the Seminoles are in position to make their second straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Today, the Noles head into Leonard Hamilton's old stomping ground to take on a very underachieving Miami Hurricanes team. Miami currently sits at 4-11 in the ACC and tied for last place with NC State. Since the Semionles last played the Hurricanes, Miami has only won two games: Georgia Tech and Virginia. Their four losses in the interim were to Clemson by 8, Duke by 7, NC State by 5 and UNC by 7. These are not blow out losses by any means. The Hurricanes did get walked over by a number of teams at the beginning of the season, but they seemed to have settled into being competitive.
They currently rank 60th in the Pomeroy rankings, which ranks as third worst in the conference. In fact, no team in the ACC ranks worse than 78th in the standings, meaning 12% of the top 100 teams in the country are from the ACC. Of the top 6 conferences ranked by Pomeroy, only the ACC and Big 12 have all of their teams in the top 100. As it stands, Miami has the 53rd offensive efficiency and the 79th defensive efficiency. These are not terrible numbers by any means.
Here are the rest of the Hurricanes' stats:
Raw Tempo: 67.3 poss/40 min National Rank=178
Adj Tempo: 66.8 poss/40 min National Rank=203
Offense Defense
Raw Efficiency : 106.1 ( 90) 96.3 ( 78)
Adj Efficiency : 110.4 ( 53) 95.3 ( 79)
Effective FG% : 52.8 ( 42) 46.4 ( 68)
Turnover Pct. : 21.7 (238) 20.3 (188)
Off. Rebound% : 35.4 ( 77) 31.0 ( 96)
Free Throw Rate: 36.8 (193) 36.4 (143)
3-Point FG% : 35.8 (100) 32.9 (111)
2-Point FG% : 52.2 ( 30) 44.8 ( 65)
Free Throw Pct.: 65.1 (284) 70.4 (254)
Block Pct. : 9.4 (192) 12.4 ( 39)
Steal Pct. : 10.8 (273) 10.6 (101)
3PA/FGA : 37.7 ( 58) 34.3 (239)
A/FGM : 55.4 (122) 56.7 (252)
If you have been following along for the entire season, you will recognize that this pattern plays directly to the strengths of the Seminoles. Miami turns the ball over almost as many times as the Seminoles, they don't shoot the ball well from the free throw line and they don't generate turnovers. Florida State forces turnovers, will drive that eFG% down and prevent Miami from getting to the line, making what few times they get to the line less damaging.
Lineups (From Seminoles.com):
PROBABLE STARTERS FOR FLORIDA STATE
F #31 Chris Singleton (10.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg; 10 pts and 3 stls vs., Miami, Feb. 6, 2010)
F #42 Ryan Reid (7.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg; 11 pts and 4 rebs vs. Miami, March 8, 2008)
C #32 Solomon Alabi (11.8 ppg, 2.4 bpg; 0 pts and 9 rebs vs. Miami, Jan., 21, 2009)
G #21 Michael Snaer (9.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg; 9 pts and 1 reb vs. Miami, Feb. 6, 2010)
G #22 Derwin Kitchen (8.5 ppg, 4.0 apg; 13 pts and 2 asts vs. Miami, Feb. 18, 2009)
F #21 Dwayne Collins (12.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg; 10 pts and 11 rebs vs. Florida State, Jan. 21, 2009)
C #45 Julian Gamble (3.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg; 9 pts and 3 rebs vs. Florida State, Feb. 6. 2010)
G #1 Durand Scott (9.7 ppg, 3.6 apg; 9 pts and 2 ats vs. Florida State, Feb. 6, 2010)
G #23 James Dews (11.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg; 19 pts and 7 rebs vs. Florida State, Feb. 18, 2009)
G #25 Garrius Adams (4.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg; 5 pts and 3 rebs vs. Florida State, Feb. 6, 2010)
This is a game that Florida State needs to exploit Miami's relative lack of size up front but account for the Hurricanes' speedy guard play. This is a formula that Florida State has become quite comfortable with as the season has gone on. With no players over 6'9, the Hurricanes have a significant front court advantage. Dwayne Collins is continuing to have an excellent season. Florida State will have to keep an eye on the likes of Malcom Grant, Adrian Thomas and James Dews. There are the Hurricanes three point threats and it would not be wise to let these three get comfortable from outside.
Four Factors and Other Stats:
| PPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% | RPG | ORPG | DRPG | APG | TPG | SPG | BPG | FPG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | FSU | 69.3 | 45.6 | 64.9 | 33.4 | 38.2 | 12.7 | 25.6 | 14.0 | 16.7 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 17.8 |
 | MIAMI | 72.5 | 46.3 | 66.1 | 36.6 | 36.3 | 12.0 | 24.3 | 14.4 | 14.5 | 7.2 | 4.4 | 17.3 |
| FSU Opponents | 60.2 | 37.1 | 66.1 | 32.8 | 33.0 | 12.6 | 20.4 | 9.7 | 16.3 | 8.0 | 2.3 | 18.9 |
| MIAMI Opponents | 64.5 | 40.4 | 70.5 | 33.0 | 32.9 | 11.3 | 21.6 | 12.6 | 13.9 | 7.3 | 3.1 | 17.7 |
| POS | PPG | PPP | FLR% | Eff | eFG% | TS% | FTR | 2P% | FTP% | 3P% | OR% | DR% | A% | A/T | T% | S% | B% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FSU | 1985.0 | 68.4 | 1.01 | 52.8 | 101.3 | 50.9 | 53.7 | 39.6 | 54.9 | 20.1 | 24.9 | 38.4 | 66.9 | 56.5 | 0.84 | 24.3 | 12.4 | 11.5 |
| MIAMI | 1949.0 | 67.2 | 1.08 | 53.9 | 107.9 | 53.2 | 55.6 | 37.0 | 49.6 | 18.7 | 31.7 | 35.8 | 68.3 | 56.3 | 1.0 | 21.6 | 10.8 | 8.0 |
| FSU Opponents | 1985.0 | 68.4 | 0.88 | 46.2 | 88.0 | 42.9 | 46.6 | 33.1 | 47.1 | 20.3 | 32.6 | 33.1 | 61.6 | 46.9 | 0.6 | 23.8 | 11.7 | 4.3 |
| MIAMI Opponents | 1949.0 | 67.2 | 0.96 | 48.7 | 96.0 | 46.2 | 50.2 | 35.6 | 49.3 | 21.4 | 29.3 | 31.7 | 64.2 | 56.8 | 0.91 | 20.6 | 10.8 | 5.7 |
All tables from Statsheet.com
Prediction: Florida State 71 Miami 63
Game Time: 12 pm EST
Opponent's Site: Seventh Floor Blog
Television: ESPN2
Live Stats: scacchoops.com
Random Fact From Seminoles.com
FLORIDA STATE'S RECENT 3-POINT FIELD GOAL DEFENSE
Florida State's defense limited Wake Forest to .273 shooting from the 3-point line in its four-point win over the Deacons on Wednesday night. The Seminoles limited Wake Forest to three made shots from the bonusphere - with only one coming in the second half. It marked the fifth time in the last five games that's Florida State's defense has limited its opponent to .353 shooting from long range or lower.