Florida State Seminoles — 2013-14 Syracuse basketball scouting report

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Florida State can still make the NCAA tournament

Syracuse will finish the regular season by traveling to Florida to take on the Seminoles on Sunday afternoon. Here is a quick look at the game:

BUBBLE TEAM: Florida State is the quintessential definition of a bubble team. The Seminoles are among ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s Last Four Out with a record of 18-11 and 9-8 in the ACC and have an RPI of 59. Their biggest wins this season have come against then-No. 10 Virginia Commonwealth and then-No. 22 Massachusetts. But those wins look less impressive now that the regular season is winding down since UMass and VCU are now projected as 7-seeds. A win against Pitt (currently projected as a 9-seed) on Feb. 23 helped those chances, as did surviving a scare at Boston College on Tuesday. A win against struggling Syracuse would certainly help pad FSU’s NCAA chances.

fsu
Florida State can still make the NCAA tournament

» Related: ACC has had no problems solving Syracuse’s 2-3 zone

SCOUTING THE SEMINOLES: Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton has jumbled his lineup this season, and two key adjustments have helped FSU win four of its last five games. On Feb. 5, Hamilton took starting point guard Devon Bookert out of the lineup in favor of Aaron Thomas, and Thomas has averaged 18.3 points in the eight games since. ACC Sixth Man of the Year candidate Ian Miller made his first start of the season against North Carolina on Feb. 17 and responded with 22 points in a six-point loss. He is second on the team in scoring with 13.6 ppg.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: Syracuse is 3-1 all-time against the Seminoles. The last time these two teams met was in the first round of the 1997 NIT. Randell Jackson’s 20 points and 11 rebounds led FSU to a 82-67 win. Otis Hill led the Orangemen with 16 points.

GAME INFORMATION: Sunday, March 9 at 2 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center. TV: ACC Regional Network/ESPN3.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.