FSU basketball (5-2) will take on the Georgia Bulldogs (7-1) in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday night inside the Tucker Center at 9 p.m. ET on the ACC Network. FSU got destroyed in its last outing against Texas A&M in a non-competitive matchup and lost against the rival Florida Gators last month.
They open as slight betting underdogs at +2.5, and the over/under points total expects a high-scoring affair at 172.5, according to . Those odds imply an 88-85 Georgia win.
FSU had one of those games where the three-point shot wasn’t falling early against Texas A&M, and the hole became too massive to overcome.
Georgia is similar to FSU in that it hasn’t beaten anyone good. They took Clemson to overtime in a loss and beat Georgia Tech in a close affair. They score points in bunches, shooting 48 percent from the floor overall.
They take a lot of three-pointers, about 46 percent of their shots, but only shoot about 30 percent overall from long range. They make 77.6 percent of their free throws and only turn it over about 11 times on average. The Bulldogs rebound it well, with about 33 percent of their boards coming on the offensive end.
FSU will need to force turnovers with its defense to create scoring opportunities. They need to force the Bulldogs into taking jump shots or threes. FSU will need to shoot it well from three-point range and maybe not be as dependent on those shots. Georgia averages nearly nine blocked shots per game, but I’d attack the rim and hope to make a good percentage of the free throws(which is something FSU hasn’t done well).
FSU needs a good showing in this game after its last performance. Otherwise, the narrative that they can only beat scrubs will start the form, as all three losses would be against SEC teams if they lose.