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NIT 1st Round Preview: ‘Noles Host Davidson

By Kelvin Hunt

Feb 14, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton reacts during the game against the Miami Hurricanes at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 14, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton reacts during the game against the Miami Hurricanes at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NIT first round will get underway on Tuesday night with No. 4 seed FSU taking on No. 5 seed Davidson. Will the ‘Noles advance to the second round?

The NIT last featured the ‘Noles in 2014 when they were a No. 1 seed making it to the semifinals before losing in overtime against Minnsota. The ‘Noles will look to go deep in the tournament again, and will have to get pass a scrappy Davidson team in the process.

Davidson isn’t a huge team but they can fill up the scoreboard, averaging 79 points per game while being one of the most efficient teams on offense in the country.

However, as good as they are on offense, they’re arguably just as bad on the defensive side of the ball. They allow opposing teams to score nearly 78 points per game (308th nationally) and only average 35 rebounds per game (228th nationally).

They shoot it from beyond the arc at 35.4 percent as a team, but guard Brian Sullivan is the big threat shooting 40.7 percent from long-range. They also shoot 76 percent from the charity stripe.

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Davidson is led by three players on the offensive side of the ball. Jake Gibbs averages 23.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Peyton Aldridge averages 15.5 points and leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game. Sullivan averages 14.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

FSU is led by  the trio of Dwayne Bacon, Malik Beasley and Xavier Rathan-Mayes who average 15.6, 15.4 and 11.7 points per game respectively.

The ‘Noles average 78.1 points per game (58th nationally) while giving up 73.8 points per game (230th nationally) while averaging nearly 37 rebounds per game (129th nationally).

It will likely be a high scoring affair because FSU’s defense isn’t anywhere near elite. The ‘Noles are the bigger team and should be able to dominate on the boards in this game. They should also be able to drive the lane and get to free throw line. That’s usually a plus for most teams, but FSU has struggled at the charity stripe for most of the year. They are shooting 68.9 percent from the foul line as a team.

Davidson doesn’t turn the ball over much, so FSU will need to get transition buckets off defensive rebounds and outlet passes. They should be able to turn offensive rebounds into points as well which will likely be one of the main differences in the game unless Davidson shoots lights out.

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Unfortunately, FSU has allowed several teams to shoot over 50 percent for the ENTIRE game this season. However, I expect FSU to be victorious in the NIT first round.

Check the game out on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. EST.

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