It’s only mid-December, but Florida State will begin ACC play on Saturday night against #25 Notre Dame. Despite a 4-4 record, the Seminoles are coming off of their best performance of the year last Saturday against UCF in a 96-73 victory.
Notre Dame comes in with a record of 9-1 which includes impressive victories over Michigan State and UMASS. The hot start comes after the Fighting Irish finished just 15-17 a season ago.
Notre Dame will be led by senior guard Jerian Grant, who leads the ACC averaging 19 points-per-game. The 6’5″ Notre Dame senior has arguably been the conference’s best player. Grant is also shooting 58 percent from the floor while dishing out better than six assists-per-game with better than a 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Grant is one of four Notre Dame players averaging in double-figures scoring. His backcourt mate, Demetrius Jackson, is scoring nearly 13 points and is dishing out three assists.
6’10” junior Zach Auguste has been a force on the inside averaging about 14 points and seven rebounds while senior Pat Connaughton is averaging 13 points-per-game and a team-high 7.5 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. As a team, Notre Dame shoots 41 percent from deep.
Guarding the perimeter has been an issue for Florida State this season and for the Seminoles to have success on Saturday, that is an area where they will need to show improvement.
As good as the Notre Dame backcourt has been, the Seminoles are also very talented at the guard position. Aaron Thomas, the team’s leading scorer averaging 14.8 points-per-game, scored 22 his last time out.
Redshirt freshman Xavier Rathan-Mayes had led Florida State in scoring in each of the previous four games, but was held scoreless in Saturday’s win over UCF. Rathan-Mayes averages better than 12 points and leads the team with 4.0 assists-per-game.
To this point in the 2014-15 season, junior slasher Montay Brandon has been Florida State’s best all-around player. Brandon is the team’s leading rebounder, averaging 6.4 boards. Brandon also leads the team with a field goal percentage of 65 in a team-high 32.5 minutes-per-game. Brandon ranks second on the team in points (13.4) and steals (1.1).
Young forwards in freshman Phil Cofer and sophomore Jarquez Smith are each averaging 6.4 points-per-game, but recently 7’3″ junior Boris Bojanovsky has come to life. Over his last two games, Bojanovsky is averaging eight points and seven rebounds while making all eight of his field goal attempts. Senior center Kiel Turpin has averaged 9 points-per-game over that span.
Florida State was able to defeat Notre Dame a season ago in Tallahassee — the first-ever conference match-up between the schools — by a narrow 76-74 margin. Guard Ian Miller hit a runner in the lane with four seconds to play to propel the Seminoles to victory.
Saturday’s contest will open ACC play for each team. Following the game, Florida State will play its final five non-conference contests of the season. Tipoff in South Bend is set for 8:00 P.M. eastern time and can be watched nationally on ESPN2.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
