Florida State basketball (5-3) has been embarrassed in its last two outings against SEC teams. The two losses were by a combined 70 points. All three of their losses are against SEC teams, and they will face the No. 8 Houston Cougars (7-1) on the road Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET.
FSU enters the contest as +15.5 betting underdogs, with the over/under points total of 145.5. Those odds imply an 80-65 win for the Cougars.
FSU’s issues have been a combination of things. They depend on three-point shots too frequently and don’t make enough of them. An amazing 52.8 percent of their field goal attempts have been three-pointers. FSU is only making 31.5 percent of their attempts.
They lack rim presence on defense, as opposing offenses have been able to get to the rim at will. FSU doesn’t rebound well and has been poor at the free-throw line in recent games. Defensively, FSU hasn’t been forcing as many turnovers and generating points off turnovers.
FSU head coach Luke Loucks hasn’t been pleased with the effort and soft mentality in the past few games.
This will be the last game of a three-game gauntlet before FSU plays some lesser competition. FSU will then enter ACC play with back-to-back games against top 25 teams, North Carolina and Duke. The expectations for FSU increased after they played the rival Florida Gators in a close game. However, those expectations have dissipated over the past couple of weeks.
The truth of this team is probably somewhere in the middle, but FSU must figure out its real identity. The game on Saturday night will air on Peacock.