FSU basketball: Noles travel to Clemson, looking to avoid 3rd straight loss

FSU basketball (8-18, 6-9 ACC) will travel to Clemson Wednesday night to take on Clemson (18-7, 10-4 ACC), looking to avoid a third straight loss.

The Noles hosted the Tigers on January 28th and gave away a game 82-81 to the Tigers in the final seconds. FSU led by three points with nine seconds remaining and elected to foul. Clemson made both free throws to trim the lead to 80-79 and fouled FSU.

FSU made one of two free throws to make it 81-79 with eight seconds remaining. Clemson scored on a layup plus the foul(that was questionable), giving the Tigers an 82-81 win. Clemson has lost three consecutive games since that win, and FSU has lost three of their last four.

FSU was only a two-point underdog on their home court in the last game, but oddsmakers have the Noles as +10 point underdogs going into Wednesday night’s game. The over/under points total is 146.5, which implies a 78-68 win for the Tigers.

FSU failed to capitalize on the 18 Clemson turnovers in the first outing. Clemson shot 47 percent overall and went to the charity stripe 29 times, making 22.

The Tigers shot 10 of 32 from three-point land. FSU shot 43 percent overall but made 13 three-pointers behind Darin Green Jr and Caleb Mills’s hot shooting. FSU went to the charity stripe 20 times, making 14. FSU hasn’t been shooting the three-pointer well in recent outings and lacks the hustle to grab loose balls and defensive rebounds.

They don’t do many things well, and lots of these little things add up against teams that shoot relatively well. I think that’s why the Noles are much larger betting underdogs than they were in the first game.

I know it’s a road game, but it’s not like Clemson has Duke’s home atmosphere. Hopefully, Leonard Hamilton can find some magic and stop this losing streak. The game will air at 7 p.m. ET on the ACCNX channel.