With the win, FSU advances to 26-8. The 26 wins are the most since joining the ACC 26 years ago. The program record is 27 wins, set in the 1971-72 season when FSU made their only appearance in the Final Four.
Jonathan Isaac had a huge game with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three blocks, and two steals. It was the third straight game he’s had at least 10 boards. Of his five made baskets, two were dunks, which give him a team high 35 dunks for a Florida State team which has more dunks than any of the other 350 Division I basketball teams. Point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes has 46 assists on dunks.
Christ Koumadje was an unlikely hero in last night’s game. In addition to altering a ton of shots, he matched his career high in blocks (4), and steals (2), and set a new career high for minutes played (21).
Florida Gulf Coast has scored more points in the paint than any team in the nation. But due to FSU’s interior defense (9 blocks, 2nd highest total this season) and transition offense the ‘Noles outscored the Eagles 44-36 in the paint. When you take the opponent’s strength and beat them at that aspect of the game, there is a good chance you’ll walk away with a win.
FSU won 86-80 in an 82 possession game. The Seminoles were just the 6th team this season to hold FGCU below a point per possession on offense. It was the 2nd time this year that the Eagles shot at least 50% on 2s and lost, and the primary reason was that Florida State made 68% of their 2s, which was the highest this year against FGCU. For the year, FSU has made 54.5% of their 2s, which is the 2nd highest mark in the ACC, slightly behind Virginia Tech’s 54.6%.
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