Game Preview: Florida State at Clemson
Florida State is coming off of a disappointing, but hard fought loss against Pittsburgh at home. Now they travel to face Clemson, a team who FSU should’ve been a couple of weeks ago in Tallahassee. How do they respond on the road in the rematch?
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This game will be at 7 pm on ESPN3, live from the Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, SC.
Clemson Tigers Breakdown
Since beating FSU at the end of January, this team has really fallen off, losing three straight to a bad Boston College team, a close one against Miami, then getting demolished by UNC. They’re going to be looking to finally get back in the win column, and they’ll have a good chance in this one. But if you can lose to Boston College, you can lose to ANYONE. Except maybe Louisville.
Anything that could’ve gone wrong in these three games has. Offense has been sputtering, defense hasn’t been as strong as it was early on in conference play, and they just look a little out of sorts. A big reason has been the turnovers, posting 37 turnovers combined in these last three games, which includes a turnover rate of 25.6% against BC. This might be something FSU looks to replicate.
Hunter Tyson scored just 3 points against UNC, Chase Hunter has scored 31 total points these last three games after scoring 26 against FSU… it just doesn’t have the same feel as they did when FSU played them a couple of weeks ago, which doesn’t make much sense since everyone is healthy for them. They have all their playmaking back, and should be firing on all cylinders, they just haven’t been.
It’s hard to change too much of what was said just a couple of weeks ago. Brevin Galloway has been solid since he returned a couple of games ago, but it
Florida State Seminoles Breakdown
I’m just trying to find the positives right now with this team, and one of them has been Jalen Warley. After struggling against Syracuse, he dominated against Pitt with a career 23 points to go with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and no turnovers; the second time in the last two games he hasn’t turned it over. In general, he has just 12 total turnovers since the season turned to 2023, a span stretching 11 games. After the season started with 7 turnovers against Troy and another 5 turnovers against Nebraska, this has been a welcome sight, and a good stepping stone for him.
The Pitt game was a tough fight, but unfortunately, it didn’t go FSU’s way. Really the last three minutes did them in when Pitt was making shots and getting to the free throw line while FSU couldn’t get anything positive generated. For the most part, they were able to keep a talented 3-point shooting team to a minimum once again, but defense ended up being the downfall. It’s a game you would’ve loved to win, but you can finally tell guys are starting to wear down and feel the tiring in their legs.
I’ll expand on this more in the coming weeks, but it’s been interesting to see how open Coach Hamilton has been about the roster construction this year, and what he’s going to need to change moving forward. I’m fairly certain he’s going to get at least another year to fix this roster, and I’m expecting probably 4-5 new faces on the team next season.
Injury Report
Jaylan Gainey is out for the season with an ACL Injury.
Cam’Ron Fletcher is out for the season with a knee injury.
Jeremiah Bembry is expected to miss the season.
Projected Starters
Clemson
G: Brevin Galloway
G: Chase Hunter
F: Hunter Tyson
F: Ian Schieffelin
F: PJ Hall
Florida State
G: Jalen Warley
G: Caleb Mills
G: Darin Green Jr
F: Matthew Cleveland
F: Cameron Corhen
Keys to the Game
Contain The Dribble
FSU lost to Clemson because of a lost contain dribble at the end of the game, and that simply can’t happen again. Clemson is fully healthy, meaning they have all of their guards back, compared to the first game when they only had a couple of guys available. FSU’s first point of attack is going to be important.
3-Point Defense
Clemson was upset on the road at Boston College because they were cold from 3; just 6/21. FSU’s defense hasn’t been spectacular this season to say the least, but they were able to keep the Tigers to 10/32 in Tallahassee. If they can replicate that defensive success, it’ll go a long way in this one.
Get Baba Miller Going Again
A big reason FSU should’ve beaten Clemson last time was because of Baba Miller and his production, and since then he just has not been playing well. I’m hoping Clemson is just a good matchup for him and he can give the bench some juice, because it’s desperately needed.
Game Prediction
Clemson is favored by 10 points with an over/under of 146.5.
FSU should’ve won against a depleted Clemson a few weeks ago, but let it slip through their fingers. Even though Clemson has lost three straight, they should be able to get back in the win column against a team they’ve already beaten.
Clemson 81 FSU 72
READ MORE: Florida State's full 2023 football schedule released
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