Chop Chat
Fansided

FSU Basketball: Noles are slight betting favorites over Missouri

By Kelvin Hunt

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 18: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles reacts after their 66-91 loss to the Xavier Musketeers during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Amway Center on March 18, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 18: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles reacts after their 66-91 loss to the Xavier Musketeers during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Amway Center on March 18, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

FSU basketball looks to make it past Missouri for potential second round rematch against Xavier.

FSU basketball learned its fate Sunday evening when it was announced they’d make the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.

The Noles are the No. 9 seed and will take on the No. 8 seed Missouri Tigers from the SEC conference Friday night in Nashville, Tennessee.

Almost every national media talking head I’ve seen thus far has picked Missouri to win the matchup citing FSU’s woes late down the stretch of the regular season.

According to SBRodds.com, FSU opened as a one point underdog but now is a consensus one point favorite across several betting sites.

However, both teams went 2-3 in their last five games and were bounced in the first round of their respective conference tournaments.

Will the Noles Win/Cover The Spread?

FSU basketball is 13-13 against the spread and 0-4 in its last five games with Missouri going 16-15 and 2-3 against the spread in their last five games.

Of course the NCAA Tournament is all about matchups and the Noles have a decided advantage in points averaged per game. FSU averages 81.8 ppg while Missouri checks in at 73.3 ppg.

FSU also shoots the ball better overall from the floor at 47.4 percent with Missouri checking in at 45.3 percent.

Missouri plays good defense, holding opponents to 40.7 percent from the floor with FSU holding opponents to 42.1 percent.

One factor to consider is Missouri will be returning an impact player who missed almost all of the season in Michael Porter Jr.

The Tigers shoot it better from beyond the arc at 38.5 percent compared to FSU at 35.1 percent, and we’ve seen teams absolutely light the Noles up from long-range.

Missouri also shoots free throws better at 73.6 percent compared to 68.5 percent for FSU basketball.

Thoughts

This isn’t a great matchup for the Noles as they have a lot of size and force teams to take tough shots as evident by the field goal percentage they allow.

Experts expect this to be a close game as evident of the betting line and the difference could come at the free throw line where Missouri shoots better as a team.

However, a locked in FSU team has shown they can beat teams better than Missouri.

Next: Will FSU Ever Make Another Deep Run In The NCAA Tournament?

Stay tuned to ChopChat for the official preview and prediction later this week.

Home/FSU Basketball