This game would have been a complete rout had Wake Forest not won the 3-point lottery by making 44% of their shots from beyond the arc. The Deacons are the worst shooting team in the ACC, and even with their hot night are still making less than 27% of their 3s in conference play. It was the most 3s they’ve made this year, and the highest shooting % against a high major team. On the interior, Wake made just 11-32 (34%) 2s, which is where they typically score their points. The only team FSU has dominated more on the interior was St. Louis (33%). Wake’s 5* freshman Jaylen Hoard made just 2-9 from the inside.
Christ Koumadje had his first double-double of his career. On two occasions earlier this season he had 10+ rebounds, but didn’t score enough points. Versus Wake Forest the senior had 20 points and 12 rebounds. He had nine dunks (the Demon Deacons have had 28 dunks all year as a team). He made 10-12 shots and is currently 3rd all time in FG% at Florida State. He also played a season high 24 minutes.
In the post-game press conference, Coach Hamilton stated that FSU was going to extend its bench regardless of how the game went. The ‘Noles are entering a critical stretch where they play three road games in the span of a week, and he wants them as rested as possible. Terance Mann and M.J. Walker both played their fewest minutes in over a month. Trent Forrest was just one minute above his low in conference play. And Mfiondu Kabengele played just 13 minutes. From the back end of the bench, Devin Vassell and Anthony Polite both played their 2nd most minutes in ACC play. All told, 11 players played at least 10 minutes. For the upcoming road trip, the current odds for winning each game are 70% (Georgia Tech), 44% (Clemson), and 24% (UNC). That means that a 1-2 trip is slightly more likely than a 2-1 trip. Finding two wins in those three would be huge, as FSU is one of four teams with four conference losses battling for that final double-bye in the ACCT.
Florida State committed just nine turnovers for the game, which was 13.4% of their possessions. However, five of those turnovers came in the first 20 possessions of the game, after which FSU found themselves down by two. Two of the nine turnovers came when the walk-ons were on the floor. That leaves just two turnovers for the middle 40 possessions, or 5% of their trips. If they did that for an entire game it would be the lowest turnover rate for the ‘Noles since advanced data became available 18 years ago. In that stretch of exceptional ball control the Seminoles turned a two-point deficit into a 23-point lead.
Florida State won 88-66 in a 67 possession game. FSU scored 1.31 points per possession, which was their most efficient game this year. It was the most that Wake has surrendered in the past two seasons. FSU now has the No. 28 offense in the nation, and the No. 23 defense. The Seminoles best offense in the advanced-stats era was No. 21 in 2006-07. That offense is largely fueled by being the best offensive rebounding team in Coach Hamilton’s tenure. Against Wake FSU grabbed 36% of their own misses, compared to just 16% for Wake.
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