FSU Basketball NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Preview: vs. Gonzaga

Here’s a preview of FSU basketball and their upcoming game scheduled for play during the 2018 NCAA basketball tournament.

For just the fifth time in the 71 seasons that the FSU basketball program has been lacing up sneakers and taking to the court, the Seminoles will be playing in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament after two wins this past weekend in Nashville – including a come from behind victory over the top seeded team in the West Region.

Now, with head coach Leonard Hamilton getting good graces and pay raises just one year after some wanted him fired following a bad second round loss, the Noles are in Los Angeles just 80 game minutes of basketball from doing something just one other team in program history has done before – make it to the Final Four and be a Cinderella team in this year’s dance.

Florida State Seminoles Basketball

Here’s our recap of the last game’s action and a preview of what’s ahead for the Seminoles.

Last Game Recap

After the ninth seeded FSU basketball team came out on top in a double digit win over the eighth seeded Missouri Tigers in their first round matchup, the Seminoles were ready to face a familiar foe – an Xavier Musketeers team who, as the No. 11 seed the year before, embarrassed the Noles with a 25-point victory over a Florida State team with three future NBA players.

After a close start to the first half, Xavier built a nine point lead before the Seminoles clawed their way back – retaking the lead with a Braian Angola three point basket with close to two minutes left. However, the Musketeers scored five points in the final 19 seconds and went into the locker room with a two-point lead.

When Paul Scruggs hit a lay up with just under 10 minutes left in the game, Xavier had a 12 point lead and it looked like déjà vu all over again. This time, though, it would be the Noles dancing for joy as part of a 29-12 run to end the game – one that included six straight points from Trent Forrest and a three pointer from PJ Savoy with 1:12 left that gave FSU basketball the lead for good in the 75-70 win.

Angola would lead all Seminoles with 15 points, while Forrest and Savoy continued their recent hot streak with a combined 25 points off the bench to send the Seminoles on for the first time since the 2011 tournament.

Opponent Preview

Seeded No. 4 in the West Region, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are no longer a team who can embrace the roll of the underdog when it comes to the NCAA Tournament – especially considering they came pretty close to cutting down the nets in Glendale last year only to blow it late against North Carolina. With all the first weekend upsets, the Zags may now be one of the favorites.

It helps when you are riding a 16 game winning streak that dates back to January 20^th and includes dominating the West Coast Conference tournament. Gonzaga survived their NCAA tournament opener against North Carolina Greensboro before pulling away late in their second round game against Ohio State to advance.

Interesting Fact

While this will be just the fifth time the Seminoles are in the Sweet 16, it will also be another game of possible revenge as they take on a Gonzaga team who knocked FSU basketball out of the 2010 tournament in the first round.

Next: Why UMBC level upset won’t happen in college football

This will also be the fourth time the Noles have made it to this round since teams were seeded (the 1972 national finalists being the other squad when seeding didn’t exist) – with Florida State losing the only other time they were the lower seed in this round before this year when they were beat by Indiana during the 1992 tournament.