Baseline Breakdown: FSU cruises past Wake Forest

After a back and forth first half, Florida State pulled away to blow out Wake Forest, 88-66.

Above The Rim

• Sometimes a 29.8% three-point shooting team gets hot and shoots well above their average. Wake Forest did just that, going 6-14 (43%) from deep in the first half. It was not a matter of terrible perimeter defense, the Demon Deacon’s were just hitting their shots. Wake Forest shot even better in the second half, going 5-10 (50%), and finished the game 11-24 (45.8%). The hot shooting looked to give Wake Forest a chance at the upset, but FSU was able to overcome it and pulled away in the second half.
• One way the Seminoles overcame Wake Forest’s uncharacteristically good three-point shooting was by dominating points in the paint. FSU scored 50 points in the paint to the Demon Deacon’s 16. Wake Forest finished the game 0-2 on dunks, while Florida State put on a show with 14-15 slams. As the Seminoles offense got rolling, it became apparent why most teams sell out to keep FSU from running the court.
• Wake Forest came into this matchup at 229th in the country with 19.5 turnovers a game. FSU was behind them at 259th with 19.9 a game. On defense, Wake Forest was 322nd forcing 15.9 turnovers a game, while FSU was 26th in causing their opponents to average 22.5 a game. Both teams finished well below their average with 9 turnovers apiece in this matchup. The Seminoles tallied 21 assists on 35 made field goals. Many of those were on alley-oops when the offense was really humming in the second half.

Court Level

• Christ Koumadje nearly had a double-double with 12 points and 8 rebounds in the first half. He was playing so well that Mfiondu Kabengele did not check in until the 13:42 mark. Early in the second half he had achieved his first career double-double and finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks. In the postgame, Coach Hamilton mentioned that getting the ball into the post more often, to both Koumadje and Kabengele, has been a point of emphasis in practice. That certainly paid off for Koumadje, who had the best game of his career in helping FSU to their sixth straight ACC win.
• After not scoring against Louisville, Phil Cofer bounced back with 13 against the Demon Deacons. Cofer went 5-8 from the floor, including 3-6 from beyond the arc. He added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a block, and a steal. PJ Savoy also bounced back, hitting 3-4 from three, and finishing with 11 points.
• Devin Vassell has not seen the court much in the last several games, but he hit two threes in the first half and scored 8 points in 12 minutes of play against Wake Forest. Anthony Polite also saw the court after not being called on for the last several games, tallying 5 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal in 11 minutes of play. Both saw the floor before the game got out of hand in the second half. Coach Hamilton mentioned in the postgame that he intended to get some reserves on the floor early to keep players fresh as FSU embarks on a three-game road trip.

Postgame

Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning:

Head Coach Leonard Hamilton:

Christ Koumadje:

Phil Cofer:

Up Next

No. 17 Florida State travels to Georgia Tech for a 2pm tip on Saturday.

Keep up on which games to watch when the ’Noles are off by checking out The FSU basketball fan’s daily rooting guide.