Inside the box score: Florida State 90, Mississippi State 66

1. Raise your hand if you saw a double-double coming from Xavier Rathan-Mayes that involved rebounds. In 40 previous games he had reached six rebounds just five times, and had a career high of seven. But last night he had 10 rebounds to go along with 13 points. His running mate Malik Beasley did even better with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The coaches have been hammering on the guards that they have to rebound better, and that seems to be paying off. FSU is now No. 29 nationally in defensive rebounding.

2. The news of Dwayne Bacon's demise was a bit premature. After struggling for three straight games, Bacon had what was perhaps his best game as a Nole. He made 7-10 2s on his way to 20 points, and chipped in with 6-8 FTs. His defensive effort was solid. And he made at least three moves that no one else on the floor could have made. He said after the game that the coaches were telling him last game to get to the rim. They demanded that again this time, only he listened.

3. FSU has the ability to severely stress a defense. When Mississippi State missed shots, the Noles came on a wave. This led to a season high 36 free throw attempts, and the Noles have now gone to the line at least 25 times in all but two games.

4. Florida State scored 42 points in the paint, compared to just 26 for MSU. FSU is now 20th nationally in 2-pt%. This suggests that FSU's recent struggles from the 3-pt line have been more about bad luck than poor execution.

5. FSU won 90-66 in a 78 possession game. FSU has now scored more than 1.10 points per possession in six of their nine games. The Seminoles offense is currently ranked 52nd nationally, which is up from No. 163 last year. The more impressive part of the final score was the defense played against Mississippi State. Their 0.885 scored per possession was easily their worst of the season. It was also the highest possession game that MSU has played this year, showing that the Noles - despite early struggles against the zone - were able to control the tempo most of the night.