Following a hard-fought loss to Duke at home on Monday night, Florida State will hit the road on Saturday to take on Georgia Tech. At 13-12 and 5-7 in ACC play, Florida State will be looking for its third road victory of the season against a Yellow Jackets’ team that comes in 11-13 for the season and just 2-10 in ACC play.
While FSU is coming off of a tough 73-70 loss to No. 4 Duke, Georgia Tech also suffered a disheartening loss on Monday as the Yellow Jackets let a 5-point lead with just over two minutes left slip away in a 65-63 loss to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Key Players for Florida State
- Xavier Rathan-Mayes (Fr.-G): 13.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.6 APG
- Montay Brandon (Jr.-G/F): 12.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 56% FG
- Devon Bookert (Jr.-G): 10.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 43% 3PT
Key Players for Georgia Tech
- Marcus Georges-Hunt (Jr.-G): 13.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.6 APG
- Charles Mitchell (Jr.-F): 10.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 54% FG
- Demarco Cox (Sr.-F): 8.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.0 BPG
Georgia Tech is averaging just 65 points-per-game this season, but the Yellow Jackets do have veteran big men who can give Florida State trouble in Charles Mitchell and Demarco Cox. Despite having a trio of 7-footers, the ‘Noles have struggled to defend against physical post players. Duke’s talented freshman Jahlil Okafor was hampered by foul trouble against Florida State on Monday night, but finished a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
FSU junior center Michael Ojo however, is coming off the best game of his career, finishing with a career-high 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in Monday’s loss.
Florida State will be hoping for a big afternoon from its guards on Saturday. Leading scorer and assist-man Xavier Rathan-Mayes was held to just 5 points and an assist in Monday’s loss to Duke while junior Devon Bookert poured in a career-high 23 points on just eight field goal attempts.
Slasher Montay Brandon has been Florida State’s most efficient offensive player this season averaging just under 13 points while shooting 56 percent from the field. Defensively, FSU will need to find a way to slow Marcus Georges-Hunt, who is on pace to lead the Yellow Jackets in scoring for a second time in three years. Hunt has scored at least 20 points on five occasions this season.
Florida State has won its last nine meetings against Georgia Tech including a 81-71 victory last season in Tallahassee. Okaro White led the Seminoles with 18 points while Devon Bookert added 16 on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting. Georgia Tech’s Robert Carter led all scorers with 20 points.
Saturday’s contest is scheduled for 2:30 P.M. eastern time and will be shown live on the ACC Network.
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