FSU vs Indiana basketball: preview, betting line, how-to-watch

The ACC got smoked in day 1 of the ACC - Big Ten Challenge. Were it not for a 20-point comeback by Miami (of FL) the league would have been swept. Instead it stands 6-1 in favor of the bad guys.

But there’s only one game that really matters: FSU vs Indiana (3-1).

This is a rematch of last year’s game when IU rolled the ‘Noles 80-64. On that night 6th man Devonte Green scored a career high 30 behind 5-7 3pt shooting. But he’s gone. And in the early going, the Hoosiers have not been a good shooting team (204th in 3pt%). Instead they score most of their points in the paint and at the line.

Sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis (6-9, 240) is one of the best bigs in the nation. He was 3rd team all conference as a freshman, and probably a lock for 1st team this year. He’s currently scoring 21.5 ppg and drawing nearly 9 fouls/40. On the podcast we discussed how much Ham may tweak his defense to focus on TJD.

Their best outside shooter and driver is senior Al Durham (6-4, 185), though he is listed as doubtful after a gnarly ankle injury vs. Texas. He’s made 40% of his 3s and is 2nd on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg).

Helping to fill his shoes is 6-2 freshman Khristian Lander, a 5* freshman PG.

Indiana has played a much more rigorous schedule than FSU, and has already played three games vs. high major opponents. They looked like a Final Four team while blasting Providence, and then themselves got stomped by Texas the next night. Since then they beat a tournament team in Stanford by 16.

With center Joey Brunk out for the foreseeable future, they’re a small team, and FSU should have plenty of lineup options. Their starting five vs Stanford went 6-9, 6-8, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. Even with FSU’s small lineup they’ll have a size advantage across the board. Indiana has been vulnerable on the defensive glass, and the ‘Noles will need a bunch of 2nd chance points to win this one. The other key point is how the refs call the game. IU scores nearly a quarter of their points at the line, so we’ll want the refs to stay out of this one.

The game tips at 7:15 and will be broadcast on ESPN. FSU is a 3.5 point favorite.