After more than a week off, Florida State will play its first true road game on Wednesday night as it travels to Iowa for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Seminoles are off to a 4-1 start after going 2-1 at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but FSU has lost seven straight ACC/Big Ten Challenge games. The last win for the Seminoles in the Challenge came over Minnesota in November of 2007.
Early on this season, it’s been the freshmen who have propelled the Seminoles. Guard Dwayne Bacon is averaging 20.6 points and 6.4 rebounds to lead FSU while Malik Beasley is scoring 20 per game while shooting a team-high 62 percent from the field. Sophomore guard and last season’s leading scorer Xavier Rathan-Mayes is averaging 10 points-per-game and a team-high 6.8 assists.
Key Players for Florida State
- Xavier Rathan-Mayes (So.-G): 10.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 6.8 APG
- Dwayne Bacon (Fr.-G/F): 20.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 58% FG
- Malik Beasley (Fr.-G): 20.0 PPG, 62% FG, 58% 3PT
Key Players for Iowa
- Jarrod Uthopff (Sr.-F): 18.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 52% FG
- Adam Woodbury (Sr.-C): 9.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 63% FG
- Mike Gesell (Sr.-G): 8.8 PPG, 7.7 APG, 1.7 SPG
Florida State ranks ninth in the country in scoring as a team, getting more than 91 points-per-game, but defensively, FSU has struggled early on which is a surprise given head coach Leonard Hamilton’s track record.
Iowa is off to a 4-2 start, but bounced back from consecutive losses to Dayton and Notre Dame in the Advocare Invitational to trounce Wichita State, 84-61. Senior forward Jarrod Uthoff leads the Hawkeyes, averaging better than 18 points-per-game while shooting 52 percent from the field.
Junior guard Peter Jok is averaging 12 points while 7’1″ senior center Adam Woodbury has been a force inside, averaging just under 10 points and more than seven rebounds. Woodbury is shooting nearly 63 percent from the field.
The Hawkeyes share the ball really well, averaging nearly 20 assists-per-game as a team. Senior guard Mike Gesell averages 7.7 assists which ranks sixth nationally. Gesell is also averaging nearly nine points. Fellow senior guard Anthony Clemmons is averaging four assists.
The Seminoles were defeated by Nebraska 70-65 in last season’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge while Iowa defeated North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 60-55. FSU last met the Hawkeyes in December of 2002 in Tallahassee where the Seminoles won 80-67 behind 19 points from Michael Joiner and a double-double from guard Nate Johnson, who finished with 10 points and 10 assists.
Wednesday’s contest is scheduled to tip off at 9:15 P.M. eastern time. It will be shown nationally on ESPNU.
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