Game Preview: Notre Dame vs. #7 Florida State
Notre Dame (18-11 / 9-9) saw its at-large tournament hopes get all but dashed with a Sunday loss at Wake Forest. But there’s still plenty to play for when the Irish host #7 Florida State (24-5 / 14-4).
GAME INFO
Start Time: 9:00 PM
TV: ESPN2
Spread: FSU -1.5
THE OPPONENT
Florida State has won seven of its last nine games and remains one of the nation’s top teams. The good news for Notre Dame is that all five of its losses have been on the road, including a 70-69 loss at Clemson in its most recent contest. In fact, Florida State is 2-3 in its last five road games.
The Seminoles are one of just two ACC teams to rank in the top five of the league rankings in scoring offense (2nd, 75.33) and scoring defense (5th, 63.9), with #10 Louisville being the other. Florida State uses a balanced offensive approach to get points, with 11 different players averaging at least 3.1 points per game.
Sophomore guard Devin Vassell leads Florida State in scoring at 12.9 points per game, but Vassell has just seven games with 15 points or more. He’s been steady all season, and his 49.1% shooting rate is impressive.
Florida State leads the ACC in forced turnovers (16.6 per game), and senior guard Trent Forrest leads the Seminoles with two steals per game, which ranks third in the ACC. Forrest is second on the squad with 11.7 points per game and leads FSU in assists (4.1 per game).
Vassell and Forest combined for 24 points on just 17 shots in FSU’s 85-84 victory over Notre Dame in late January. The duo combined for 12 rebounds, nine assists and five steals in that matchup.
Freshman forward Patrick Williams, a former five-star recruit, is Florida State’s top scorer off the bench and the top scoring forward on the roster. Williams averages 9.4 points and 3.8 rebounds off the bench for the season, but he’s averaged 12.5 points 5.3 rebounds in his last eight games.
Florida State is fourth in the ACC in offensive rebounds (11.2 per game), which is something to watch in this matchup.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Notre Dame is likely going to need to win the ACC conference tournament to get into the NCAA tournament. But there is still plenty at stake for Notre Dame, who has bounced back from last season’s 14-19 campaign.
According to Blue & Gold Illustrated senior editor Lou Somogyi, Notre Dame is in the midst of a 20-game losing streak against opponents that were ranked at the time of the game. The last win, according to Somogyi, was against No. 6 Wichita State back in November of 2017.
A win over Florida State and Virginia Tech to end the season would give Notre Dame its first 20-win regular season since the 2016-17 campaign.
LINEUPS
