After taking down Temple in game one of the 2024 Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off, the Florida State Seminoles look to do battle with the UMass Minutemen. Massachusetts, who are coached by Miami, Florida native Frank Martin, are coming off an 87-80 loss to the same Temple team FSU beat on Friday.
How to Watch?
For the first time this season, FSU is playing on a channel the majority of fans get. ESPN2 has the coverage today with tip-off set for 3:30 EST.
What’s at Stake?
Nothing is ever truly “must win” in November, but if FSU wants to put together a resume that might at least be in the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation then winning this game would be advised. As Michael mentioned in his latest “Inside the Box Score,” (and as he and I have talked about on the Gospel of Ham), FSU just doesn’t have a schedule that’s overly conducive for a strong resume. The ‘Noles can probably afford one more non-con loss at most, and wasting it on a 1-4 UMass team would be a tough pill to swallow.
On top of that, neutral site wins have a better chance of being Q2 than home wins, so on the off chance that the Minutemen pull off some wins in the A-10, it would be nice to have at least a possibility of another win in the top half of the quadrants. Oh and winning a “tournament” of any kind is always fun too!
For UMass, they are just hoping to break a 4 game losing streak and start building some type of momentum before the season completely unravels.
Factors that Might Matter
- Will depth be the difference? While FSU is playing on less than 48 hours rest, UMass is barely 20 hours removed from their game with the Owls. On top of that, Florida State is 21st in the nation in bench minutes and didn’t have anyone go 30 minutes on Friday, while Massachusetts is 151st (a little above average) in bench minutes and had two guys play 31+ minutes yesterday. This feels like it could be a sizeable advantage for the Seminoles.
- Can FSU force UMass into turnovers? The Minutemen are one of the better teams in the country at protecting the ball, committing a turnover on less than 15% of their possessions. Of course, so was Temple and the ‘Noles turned them over on almost 20% of the game’s possessions. FSU ranks 5th in the country at forcing turnovers and predicate much of their scoring on offense off of live ball turnovers created on defense.
- How tight will the whistle be? A by-product of FSU’s aggressive defense is fouls. Lots of fouls. But it’s one thing to foul a guy while trying to prevent a lay-up opportunity, it’s another to needlessly reach for the ball 65 feet from the basket. There’s been a couple games this season where the Seminoles were able to limit these senseless fouls, but on the season FSU ranks 310th in sending opponents to the free throw line. Meanwhile, Jaylen Curry (no relation) draws 6 fouls per 40 minutes for UMass and attempted 10 FTs in the loss to Temple. The Minutemen can certainly hang around if FSU pushes them into the bonus early. Of course, FSU is no slouch at getting to the line either. Jamir Watkins leads the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes at 10.1. So fans on the East Coast might not want to make dinner plans before 6pm.
Share your prediction and chat during the game below!
