Coming off a 71-68 loss at Georgia Tech on Sunday, No. 21 N.C. State (19-5, 8-3) will seek its ninth conference victory of the season against the Florida State Seminoles (15-6, 5-5) tonight at 7 p.m. in the RBC Center.
The Wolfpack are looking to return to their winning ways after having their four-game winning streak snapped by Georgia Tech.
The Pack are no amateurs to close games, having won four out of their last five games, all of which were decided by four points or less — or in overtime.
“We have been fortunate to be on the positive end of the stick of most of [the close games] and that’s really helped us,” coach Herb Sendek said. “There is great balance in our league.”
The Seminoles are 3-4 on the road this season, but have shown signs of playing well away from Tallahassee, including a controversial 97-96 overtime loss to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Seminoles will enter the game tonight riding a 73-63 home win against Massachusetts on Sunday. Head coach Leonard Hamilton has attempted to install a different brand of basketball this season, which has yielded more offensive success than in years past.
“We’re a team that’s still trying to develop an identity,” Hamilton said. “We still need to figure out exactly who we are and how we will represent ourselves night in and night out.”
FSU has bolstered its efficiency on the offensive end, scoring 80.1 points per game, which is good for third in the ACC. It has not ranked higher than eighth in scoring per game in any of the last four years.
The Seminoles are 7-3 when they score 80 points or more against their opposition. They will have to continue this efficiency against a patient Pack squad that has no qualms about controlling the game’s tempo.
“N.C. State is a team that seems to make an adjustment in relation to who they are playing and what they think they need to do in that particular game,” Hamilton said. “They play with a lot of unselfish spirit. Their team plays to win without any ego, and they share the ball.”
Leonard has his team playing scrappier on the defensive end as well, ranking third in the ACC in steals at 9.7 per game. The more aggressive approach has the Seminoles consistently garnering votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, but not enough to crack the top 25.
“We’re a little bit more consistent, but we’re not there yet,” Hamilton said.
Juniors Al Thornton and Alexander Johnson, who anchor the frontline of an athletic starting lineup, pace the Seminoles.
Thornton ranks in the top 12 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage, scoring at a clip of 16.5 points per game, snagging 7 boards per contest, and connecting on 55 percent of his shot attempts. Over his last three games, he has averaged 21 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Johnson is averaging 12.3 points per game and hauling down 6.7 rebounds per game.
Senior Cameron Bennerman, who is averaging 15.7 points per game in ACC play, leads State. He has now scored 10 points or more in his last 18 consecutive games.
However, for the Pack to contain the Seminoles’ productive front line, Cedric Simmons will need to maintain an active presence on the floor while steering clear of foul difficulties, according to Sendek.
“It is important we keep [Simmons] available and on the floor and out of foul trouble,” Sendek said. “At the same time, when a player does get in foul trouble, we have to be able to adjust and compensate the best we can.”
Simmons’ production was sorely missed in Sunday’s matchup with Georgia Tech, only logging 17 minutes.
“He just really had a hard time getting in the flow of things,” Sendek said. “We had him in early foul trouble and it just seems like at every point he was picking up that next foul. It made it really hard for him to get in the flow of the game.”
Sendek said he realizes the critical juncture his team is in as ACC play winds down and the Pack jockeys for a higher seed in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
“We’re obviously in the middle of an important week for us, with three games,” Sendek said. “[We are] coming off a double overtime game in the middle of last week — so a lot of basketball in a short stretch for us.”
