Florida State basketball (9-12, 2-6 ACC) looks for its second straight ACC win when it hosts the Stanford Cardinals (14-7, 3-5 ACC) on Saturday evening inside the Tucker Center at 6 p.m. The game will air on the ACC Network, and FSU will enter the game as slight betting favorites according to Fanduel.
FSU is a -2.5 favorite, and the over/under total is 151.5, implying a 77-74 win for the Noles. FSU upset the California Bears in their last outing and the rival Miami Hurricanes two games before that. Those are two teams that have beaten the Stanford Cardinals in their last two games.
The raw stats suggest FSU is the better team in every category except free-throw shooting and three-point shooting, though neither team shoots the lights out from the floor overall. Both shoot about 42 percent from the floor and don’t turn the ball over much.
Florida State has seemed to shift from its offensive philosophy of shooting over half of its shots from the three-point line. It’s something I’ve been critical of early in the season, but they have shot fewer three-point attempts than usual in those last two ACC wins. There seems to be much more of an emphasis on the defensive side. FSU is 2-2 in its last two games, but the two losses are by a combined four points.
Florida State’s biggest culprit has been the empty offensive possessions in those losses. When they take good shots or get to the rim(when they make their free throws), they’re a tough out. However, a wide-open three-point shot doesn’t constitute a good shot if the person taking the shot doesn’t shoot it at a high percentage. Martin Somerville, Chauncey Wiggins, and Kobe Magee are the three best three-point shooters at over 33 percent or better.
FSU will need to contain Stanford’s leading scorer, Ebuka Okorie, who averages 21.4 points per game. They only have two other guys averaging in double figures. Okorie doesn’t shoot it well, but 31 percent of his points come from the free throw line, where he shoots 81.8 percent.
If they can contain him and make others beat them, take good shots, and make free throws? They should have a good shot at another ACC win.