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Inside the box score: FSU 75, Gonzaga 60

FSU basketball is peaking at the right time

By Michael Rogner
NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-West Regional-Florida State vs Gonzaga Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
  1. Terance Mann has been battling lingering injuries for the past several weeks. And it showed in his production. He hadn’t scored more than 10 points since Valentine’s day (13 vs Clemson), and hadn’t been awarded the MVP of the game by kenpom.com since dropping 30 on Georgia Tech in January. But against Gonzaga he repeatedly drove inside their defense, and scored on 8-11 2s, on his way to being the only Seminole in double figures. He also added five defensive rebounds.
  2. Mfiondu Kabengele continues to impress in March. He only played 14 minutes against the Zags, but changed the complexion of the game with four blocked shots. By percentages, he is easily FSU’s best offensive and defensive rebounder. And he draws more fouls/40 than any player in the ACC. Not bad a for a freshman who was a fringe 3* recruit.
  3. Florida State blocked nine Gonzaga shots. In the past seven years, this is the 2nd time this has happened against the Zags, with the last coming two seasons ago against Syracuse (10 blocks). That occurrence was also a knockout game in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, Gonzaga’s NCAAT runs have ended each of the past four seasons against an ACC team. In all four of those seasons, that was the only ACC team they faced. For FSU, their defense is now 18th nationally in blocks.
  4. Gonzaga entered the game 9th nationally in defensive 2-pt%. In this game, Florida State made 21-38 2s (55.3%), which was the 4th highest percentage vs the Zags this season. FSU outscored the Zags 38-22 in the paint, despite that being the strength of Gonzaga’s offense.
  5. FSU won 75-60 in a 70 possession game. Dating back to the Boston College game, Missouri is the only team to hold FSU below a point per possession (0.97). For Gonzaga, the ‘Noles held them to just 0.85 points per possession, which was their worst offensive performance since November, 2010.

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