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Inside the box score: FSU basketball’s resume takes a hit

The ‘Noles now have the dreaded bad loss (EDIT, well, it’s complicated)

By Michael Rogner
NCAA Basketball: Florida State at Boston College Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
  1. The loss dropped FSU to 1-4 in the ACC, which is their worst start since 2014-15. And as noted in the Basketball Breakdown, the ACC screwed Florida State by forcing them to face a 2nd consecutive 48-hour turnaround, only this time it is against Clemson who has had a week to prepare. Considering FSU’s injury situation, a loss to Clemson feels probable. If that happens it’s possible that this season could snowball as the Seminoles don’t have the skill level to overcome injuries to Phil Cofer, Terance Mann, and Trent Forrest. However, this team has shown resiliency in the past, so I wouldn’t count them out.
  2. Against Winthrop, Terance Mann came down funny and bruised his heel. He hasn’t been the same since. In the past five games he’s had a total of one dunk. Against Duke he had an easy putback late in the game but couldn’t get it over the rim. Last year in conference play he made 56% of his 2s and got to the line the 7th most in the ACC. Playing on a bum wheel he’s made 41% of his 2s and is going to the line half as often.
  3. The good news regarding the injuries to FSUs big three, is that Mfiondu Kabengele has begun to blossom as a go-to player. After a monster game vs Duke, he showed his youth by disappearing against Pitt, but then came right back with a 26-point, nine rebound performance against BC. Against BC he played a career high 28 minutes, which could be a sign of things to come. Florida State has been lacking that player to run offense through and Kabengele is proving that he may be able to handle the load.
  4. BC made 27 shots but converted just 41% of their 2s. In fact, in ACC play Florida State has the best 2-pt defense in the conference (42%). Unfortunately this has been mitigated by allowing the highest 3-pt% on defense (tied with Notre Dame) and sending more opponents to the line that any other team. In a weird statistical twist, FSU opponents are also making FTs at a remarkable 78.3% clip.
  5. FSU lost 87-82 in a 71 possession game. The 1.23 points per possession were the 2nd most BC has scored this year, as only the mighty Columbia Lions allowed more. It was the most FSU has allowed this year and 2nd place (Duke, 1.11) wasn’t even close. Against BC’s mix of zone and man, FSU’s offense scored the 3rd most BC has allowed all year (1.16). You have to go back to November 2016 (vs Temple) to find a game where Florida State scored that much and lost. In the NET rankings, Boston College is now 124th, so this will be viewed as a bad loss. (EDIT: Quad 2 road games to from 76-135, so BC was a bad loss but their win moved them up a quad! Go BC!)

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