Florida State has chance to bounce back against worst team in college basketball

Florida State is currently riding a five-game losing streak, which is not where they expected to be at this point in the season. Even if beating a team like Houston or Georgia was unrealistic, losing to UMass and not even competing with Dayton wasn't. This is a total program rebuild, but some things just shouldn't happen.

They're now back at home for two much-needed games against low-major teams before the Christmas break. The first one comes against Mississippi Valley State, which is the lowest-rated team in Division 1 basketball. Not only does this have to be a win, but this has to be a dominant win.

This game will be at 7 p.m. EST on ACCNX from the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida.

Florida State Seminoles head coach Luke Loucks checks the scoreboard. The Florida State Seminoles hosted the Georgia Bulldogs at the Tucker Civic Center for a men’s basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. | Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils Breakdown (1-10 overall)

This is going to be a much shorter breakdown than normal, mostly because there isn't much to talk about with MVSU. This is their fourth year under head coach George Ivory, who has a record of 10-95. Throw out their wins against non-D1 teams, and he's 7-95. He only won a combined eight games in his final two years at Arkansas Pine-Bluff, so he's now 18-142 dating back to the 2019-2020 season.

Mississippi Valley State is bad at everything except free-throw shooting (77.7%) and not having their shots blocked. They're 365th in KenPom's rankings right now, which is in last place, and they've finished in last place in each of the two seasons before this year. It's been since November 2022 since they won a non-conference game against a Division 1 opponent. They've only won a single conference game in each of the last two seasons. This is a REALLY bad basketball team.

The one player you really have to worry about with them is Michael James, a former JUCO product who is averaging 20.6 PPG and is shooting the ball really efficiently (45.7/39.0/90.2 shooting splits). He is turnover-prone, so I would expect FSU to try and force the ball out of his hands.

Their only other player averaging double-figure scoring is forward Daniel Mayfield, who is at 13.4 PPG and 6.7 RPG. Outside of them, it gets bleak quickly. Patrick Punch takes a lot of shots, but he's only shooting 25% from the floor and 17.1% from three. Their fourth-leading shot-taker, Lamont Sams, only averages 6.5 field goal attempts per game.

MVSU has one of the quickest defensive possession times in the country, which usually means that they're getting scored on quickly. Of the teams with the 20 fastest defensive possession times, only three of them are inside the top 200 for defensive rating. MVSU is not one of them. They're allowing 90.2 PPG, which is the fourth-highest in college basketball. Their 17.8 turnovers per game are the second-highest in the country. There really is no reason for FSU not to blow this team out.

Florida State Seminoles Breakdown (5-6 Overall)

Well, this has stunk. We're about to find out exactly what this team is made of, because if they come out flat again in this game, you can just go ahead and call the season a wash. It may already be a wash, but the real season starts at the end of the month, and they have to be prepared for that.

Dayton was disappointing for a lot of reasons. FSU looked unprepared, lacked focus, and really lacked discipline. Officiating was weird and bad, but that doesn't excuse losing by nearly 30 points.

A lot of their issues lie in the frontcourt, and I don't know what they're going to do there the rest of the year. Chauncey Wiggins has disappeared in the last few games, Alex Steen has been fighting a groin injury, and Alier Maluk and Shah Muhammad clearly aren't ready for this level of basketball. If Wiggins hits his threes, he can have value as a small five, but the issue is that he's 7/28 from three in the last five games.

That lack of a frontcourt is killing the defense, causing unnecessary fouls, and that takes the best players away from offense, because players like Robert McCray V are getting into foul trouble. There likely is no fixing it until the offseason, which could make for some rough watches between now and then.

Florida State Seminoles forward Chauncey Wiggins (7) shoots for three. The Florida State Seminoles hosted the Georgia Bulldogs at the Tucker Civic Center for a men’s basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. | Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Projected Starters

Florida State (Subject to Change)

G: Robert McCray V
G: Martin Somerville
G: Lajae Jones
F: AJ Swinton
F: Alex Steen

Mississippi Valley State

G: X'Zaevion Barnett
G: Michael Jame
G: Patrick Punch
F: Daniel Mayfield
F: Lamont Sams

3 Keys to the Game

Take This Game Seriously

It's six days before Christmas against a bad opponent, and there aren't going to be many people in the crowd. I've seen it too many times where someone doesn't take an opponent like this seriously, and then they're fighting in the second half to win by double digits. But this is the worst team in college basketball, and you need to re-establish momentum before ACC play starts.

Prepare for this game like you would any other. Maybe even more than any other game. Because they have to get a rhythm going again.

Don't Let Michael James Loose

Michael James is the one scorer that the Seminoles really need to worry about. He's scored 30.9% of all points scored by the Delta Devils this year, had 32 points against Texas A&M, and 23 points against Kansas State. He can give anyone and everyone buckets.

James is a really strong free-throw shooter, but he does turn it over a lot. I expect FSU to do as much as they can to force the ball out of his hands.

Defend Without Fouling

Florida State allowed Dayton to shoot 47 free throws on Tuesday as five Seminole players fouled out. The one thing MVSU does well is shooting free throws. They don't shoot a lot of them, but they make them at a high rate: 77.7%.

FSU can't afford to let MVSU shoot a bunch of free throws in this game, especially Michael James, who is a 90% free-throw shooter.

Game Prediction

Florida State is favored by 39.5 points with an over/under of 157.5, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

I'm not even kidding, anything less than a 30-point win for Florida State would be an embarrassment. Use this as a way to rebuild confidence and momentum, and maybe get out to a fast start for once?

Florida State 105, Mississippi Valley State 66

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