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FSU Basketball: 3 takeaways from ‘Noles road win over Miami

By Kelvin Hunt

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: M.J. Walker #23 of the Florida State Seminoles celebrates his teams lead against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Staples Center on March 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: M.J. Walker #23 of the Florida State Seminoles celebrates his teams lead against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Staples Center on March 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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FSU basketball went on the road and put it to a Miami that isn’t very good just as they were supposed to. I look at three takeaways from the big win.

FSU basketball (15-5, 3-4 ACC) took another step to securing their spot in the NCAA Tournament with a dominant 78-66 win over the rival Miami Hurricanes (9-10, 1-6 ACC).

It completed the regular season sweep for the Noles who have now won back-to-back games by double digits.

FSU wasted no time jumping on the Canes from the tip for a 9-1 lead with 17 minutes remaining in the first half. The Noles never trailed in the game.

They were led by M.J. Walker’s game high 22 points on 7 of 10 shooting while doing his best impersonation of Stephen Curry by going 6 of 7 from long-range.

Where has that been all season? Wherever he found it he needs to find it more often as he’s been largely missing in action this season.

Mfiondu Kabengele continues his splendid play with 17 points and six rebounds.

Three Takeaways

  • FSU’s Best Shooting Game-The Noles shot a blistering 56 percent from the floor and 60 percent from three-point range. It’s by far their best shooting game in conference play and frankly can beat any team in the country if they shoot it that way.
  • Noles Won Battle of the Boards-FSU basketball was +8 in the rebound department. A strong continuation from the second half of the Clemson game. Miami had more offensive boards but FSU only missed 22 shots compared to 32 for Miami.
  • Noles Continue Solid Free Throw Shooting- This is something I’m thrilled to see continue as the Noles have struggled at the charity stripe the past few seasons.

Thoughts

This was one of seven games of the 12 remaining we marked as “winnable” for the Noles. They made it look relatively easy offensively and held Miami to just 41.8 percent shooting.

Miami was just 7 of 29 from three-point range which is well below their 35 percent made for the season. One thing that continues to rear its head is too many turnovers for the Noles as they had 14 for the game.

dark. Next. 3 Players Who Must Impress This Spring

FSU basketball will host Georgia Tech Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 66-53 loss against Duke in their last outing.

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