Anyone going? Weather looks bad for Friday.

FSU 90 NCS 83 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly


The Good

A fast paced entertaining contest, the victory improves FSU's record to 15-13 overall, 9-8 ACC. Coming into the game, the Seminoles had beaten NC State 5 straight games in Tallahassee and 8 of the last 10. Make that 6 straight games and 9 of the last 11. FSU led for the entire game with the exception where NC State were in front for a grand total of 31 seconds. The win also keeps FSU within one game of being tied for 4th in the conference standings.

Coming into the game, the Wolfpack were 4-8 when trailing at halftime. FSU led 41-33 at the break. As mentioned already, the 'Noles won 90-83. Make that 4-9 for the Pack.

Tempo. NCS likes to play up tempo. They lead the ACC in fast break points at 15 ppg. FSU likes to play up tempo even more so. The Seminoles won the battle of tempo outscoring NC State 18-9 in fast break points.

Tempo Part II. The pace by the 'Noles took DJ Burns completely out of the game. The 275 pound forward was held scoreless well below his 12.2 ppg taking just two shots, no rebounds, and two fouls. His only claim to fame tonight was two assists. But he barely played in the game.

Defense did a decent on on NC State's leading scorer, DJ Horne who averages 17.6 ppg, scored 15 but really had to work to get that shooting just 6 of 17.

Turnovers. NC State is 9th in the country at taking care of the ball at 9.4 turnovers per game. Tonight the Pack gave the ball away 14 times leading to 12 points for FSU. Again credit tempo as FSU sped the Wolfpack up.

FSU is now one victory away from reaching a winning record this season. The importance of that is it would avoid Leonard Hamilton having back to back losing seasons for the first time in his career.

Offense. All very positive numbers with the 'Noles shooting 60% from the floor, 36% from the arc, and 79% from the FT line. All eleven who saw time on the floor scored.

Leading the team once again was Jamir Watkins with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Primo Spears added 14 as well as 6 assists (three in the final minutes) and Cameron Corhen with 11.

Plays of the game: Spears and Watkins combining to force Horner into a very tough shot right before halftime that missed its mark. Initiated by Baba Miller's save as he was sailing OB, the quick pass up the floor to Jalen Warley who had the alley oop lob to Corhen, 49-37. Chandler Jackson's fall away from the right baseline plus the foul, 57-49. The emphatic blocked shot by Taylor Bol Bowen of Horne's attempt from just left of the basket. Immediately after that, Bol Bowen grabbed the defensive rebound starting a fast break lay up by Darin Green, 64-56. Ben Middlebrook's lovely pass to the FSU fans seated courtside. Warley with the long pass to Spears on a post route who dishes to Corhen for the slam dunk. 62-54. Watkins with the rebound taking it coast to coast banking in the floater, 82-70. Spears breaks the NCS press passing to Warley and the slam, 84-75. Spears again with an assist to Watkins and the one handed slam dunk, 86-76. Miller handling the pressure and sinking two FTs with 1:10 left, 88-79. Rather than risk a turnover from an errant pass, Warley with the heads up play calling a timeout with :52 left as he was surrounded by Pack defenders after receiving the inbound pass. Horne losing the ball with 37 seconds remaining thus ending any chance of a comeback by NC State.


The Bad

Darin Green injured early in the second period. I do not believe I saw him out there the rest of the game. If he was, he did not play much and he certainly was not on the floor in the last minutes.

The more than a handful of times FSU would make a play on offense only to not get back on defense allowing the Pack to answer.

The schedule makers did not do FSU any favors with putting the start time at 9 PM. With a game that was pushing to nearly 11:30, a big hand goes to those fans that did make it to the game and stayed for the almost 2.5 hours.

OK, he makes some of his shot attempts, but I sure would like to see Spears make better use of the high screen by taking his path closer to the screener to actually rub off the defender. By not forcing the defender to decide to go over or under the screen, Primo is too often taking a contested shot.

Memo to Primo: There is playing up tempo and there is jacking up a shot way too early in the possession as was the case with the score 66-64 and taking a shot from the right wing just seconds into the possession.

The refs missing yet another goal tending call in favor of FSU. That has happened in a couple of games recently.


The Ugly

Surely (not to be confused with "and don't call me Shirley") Miller has been in the situation where a timeout was called trying to inbound the ball after a made basket and then inbounding the ball following the timeout. Surely he has to know you cannot run the baseline after the timeout. Surely the coaches mentioned that in the huddle during the timeout. And even if they didn't, a second year player in college has to have been in that situation or at least seen it before. Thankfully it did not cost FSU.

Including the above play, the mental miscues late in the game such as the fouling of Pack players that stopped the clock as was the case with Watkins fouling not once but twice. The second foul left plenty of time (1:59) for NCS to close the gap even further. Thankfully only 1 of 2 was made and FSU still led 84-76. Or the ill-advised pass by Miller to the FT line that was intercepted. Or Warley with a critical 10 second violation.


Up Next

FSU hits the road to head to Georgia Tech for a Saturday 12 PM tip. The Yellow Jackets (12-16, 5-12) have this week off but are 2-1 in their last three games having beaten Syracuse and Miami and getting blown out by Clemson. Early in January, FSU jumped out to a big first half lead eventually winning over GT, 82-71. Saturday's game will be broadcast on The Deuce.

Behind a 59.7% shooting percentage, FSU overcame NC State 90-83 Tuesday night to win a battle of two teams in the middle of the crowded ACC standings.

The Florida State and NC State men's basketball teams could both use a win in a tightly-packed middle of the ACC race. They will face off Tuesday night at 9 p.m. (ESPN2) at the Tucker Civic Center with plenty of the line for both teams.

The Seminoles (14-13, 8-8 in ACC) are coming off a 74-63 loss at Clemson Saturday night, their fourth loss in the last five games. The Wolfpack (17-10, 9-7) hasn't fared much better lately, losing three of its last five games entering Tuesday's game at FSU. With five teams between 9-7 and 8-8 in the ACC standings, Tuesday's matchup will be a major step towards determining the ACC pecking order with only four regular-season games left for both teams.

NC State narrowly leads the all-time series vs. FSU 32-30. However, the Wolfpack has struggled in games at FSU, with an 8-17 away record in the series. NC State won the last game between these teams last season in Raleigh, but has lost its last five games (and seven of its last eight) at FSU.

FSU is expected to be back closer to full strength after Darin Green Jr. returned from his one-game injury absence and Primo Spears returned from his coach's-decision absence in Saturday's loss.

I'll have updates from the Tucker Civic Center for the late tip-off tonight.

Florida State (6-0) will play host to USF (4-2) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

Right-hander Conner Whittaker (0-0, 3.38 ERA) will get the start. Whittaker struck out six batters in 5.1 innings in his season debut last week at Jacksonville, a 7-4 Florida State victory.

USF has not yet named a starter.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the long haul as the weekend rotation will adjust eventually, but Whittaker in the midweek role is a big edge for FSU against a quality in-state program.

FSU leads the nation with 16.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

FSU is 73-16 all-time against the Bulls, with wins in three straight. The Seminoles topped the Bulls 7-6 in 13 innings a year ago. Nander De Sedas hit a two-run walk-off double after the Bulls had scored a pair of runs in the top of the 13th.

The Seminoles are now ranked by Perfect Game

Jamie Arnold was named the ACC player of the week

We'll have updates below in the thread

FSU sports information:

Due to weather and travel complications, the Florida State softball team will not be traveling to the Jane Sanders Classic in Eugene, Ore., this weekend. The two programs agreed to extend their game contract to 2025, and FSU will travel to Eugene to play the Ducks next season.

Florida State will travel to Fort Myers, Fla., next week for the FGCU Spring Break Classic. FSU's next scheduled home game is a doubleheader against South Dakota State on March 12.

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(Rob Cassidy with some thoughts on Michigan small forward signee Khani Rooths, who had FSU as a finalist, as well as others)

A handful of coaching moves have already been made and the end of the regular season promises to bring on more. With that in mind, today's I Got Five On It focuses on prospects that could be affected by this year’s spin of the coaching carousel.

Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy discusses five prospects that could see their recruitment shaken up when the silly season begins in earnest next month.

New Rivals250: https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2025
The Five-Star Countdown: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-rankings-week-five-star-countdown-55
New 5-stars breakdown: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-rankings-week-meet-the-four-new-five-stars-4
Rivals250 biggest risers: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-rankings-week-ten-biggest-risers-in-the-rivals250-20
Position-by-position look at new Rivals250: https://n.rivals.com/news/tuesdays-with-gorney-new-2025-rivals250-released-4

FSU has shared the details of Mike Norvell's new contract extension through 2031. His salary has jumped up to $10 million this year

After a 6-0 start, FSU baseball is ranked for the first time this season in Perfect Game's Top 25 at No. 20.

despite not being listed as a top school earlier this month. Now a visit weekend has been set, Smith tells us.

Auburn transfer OLB Cam Riley announced earlier today that he has committed to NC State. Riley made an official visit to FSU on the weekend of February 3rd. The 6-5 and 242-pound defender has one year of eligibility remaining and would have brought experience, depth and production to a FSU LB corps that doesn't have much of any of those things.

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Florida State will enter spring practice with just one linebacker with starting experience at the major college level in senior DJ Lundy. Omar Graham, Shawn Murphy, Blake Nichelson, Justin Cryer and DeMarco Ward are the other scholarship linebackers on the roster this spring with FBS experience. And no one in that group is classified higher than a redshirt sophomore. Timir Hickman-Collins and Jayden Parrish will both be true freshman this fall.

FSU will open spring practice on March 19 and hold Pro Day on March 22. More on spring practice:

JW only had 2 touchdown passes the entire season at 6'7. Do we need a play caller?, OSU has Chip Kelly. Some of CMN decision in the red zone were questionable. Now with a target on his back, I hope he is digging deeper into the X's and O's of play design and scheme and more motion in the offense.

FSU pitcher Jamie Arnold is the second straight Seminole to win ACC Pitcher of the Week, the conference just announced. Also, FSU has shared that Conner Whittaker will start tomorrow's game vs. South Florida.

ESPN filed a memorandum with the North Carolina Superior Court on Thursday “in support of the Atlantic Coast Conference (“ACC”) motion to keep ESPN’s agreements under seal, agreements ESPN calls “highly confidential, competitively sensitive trade secrets.”

The judge will need to rule on the merits of the arguments, which are included here.

ESPN supports ACC's motion to seal agreements

FSU sports information:

Women's soccer players Lauren Flynn and Cristina Roque as well as baseball's James Tibbs were all selected as recipients of the 2024 Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship Awards by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday afternoon.

Flynn was one of three ACC athletes to earn the Jim & Pat Thacker Scholarship Award. The Thacker Award, which originated in 2005, is awarded in honor of the late Jim and Pat Thacker. Jim Thacker was the primary play-by-play announcer for the ACC's first television network. Recipients of the award must demonstrate outstanding performance both in athletic competition and in the classroom and intend to further their education through postgraduate studies at an ACC institution.

Flynn was a member of Florida State's 2023 National Championship team that accomplished the first undefeated season in school history. Flynn started all 23 games for the Noles as their main center back and led the team with 2,033 minutes and also scored a career-high five goals this season. She earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week award on Oct. 31 following her hat trick against NC State on Senior Night. Flynn was also named the NCAA Tournament Defensive Most Outstanding Player. Flynn earned her degree in political science and earned ACC All-Academic honors and College Sport Communicators Academic All-District honors while earning a 3.93 GPA.

Roque earned the 2024 ACC Excellence Award which Award recognizes outstanding graduates from our ACC member institutions. The goal of the award is to highlight the students embodying the student-athlete ideal. The brand of the ACC is our strong history of providing world-class education and competition. The awardees are exemplary students, athletes, and contributors to the community and society and serve as an example to their fellow students.

Roque ended her career as one of the most decorated goalkeepers in school history. Roque was a two-time All-American and was named the 2022 ACC Goalkeeper of the Year. Roque holds the school record for career wins in the NCAA Tournament (17) and career shutouts in the NCAA Tournament (16). She started all 23 games in goal for the Seminoles and allowed just 0.61 goals per game and allowed just two goals in her final two games as a Seminole. Roque was named to the ACC All-Academic Team and the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. Roque earned her degree in marketing and finished the fall with a 4.00 GPA.

Tibbs, from Marietta, Ga., was Florida State's leading hitter as a sophomore in 2023, leading the Seminoles with a .338 batting average, 61 runs scored, 17 home runs and 43 runs batted in. He also drew a team-high 48 walks.

For his career, Tibbs is hitting .322 and scored his 100th run last week against Jacksonville. He is a two-time ACC Academic Honor Roll recipient and was on the All-ACC Academic Baseball Team as a sophomore. Tibbs is majoring in political science.

Is your cell service working? If so what carrier do you have and type of phone?
Mine is out, AT&T, iPhone 15

The NFL Scouting Combine begins today and there's quite a bit of FSU representation there with 12 former Seminoles invited. I wrote up a story on five former FSU players who could boost their draft stock with strong weeks in Indianapolis.

The PGA TOUR heads to Mexico for the Mexico Open at Vidanta​

FIELD

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.
COURSE: Vidanta Vallarta, par 71, 7,456 yards. This design opened in 2015 and meanders along the Ameca River while views of the Sierra Madres are offered on every hole. There are large landing areas off the tee while cavernous bunkers protect the large greens. Positioning off the tee is key to success at Vidanta Vallarta, as nine of the top 15 names on the leaderboard a year ago were in the top-10 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, including winner Jon Rahm, who was second. The course added 250 yards from its original design in preparation for the arrival of the PGA TOUR, along with 51 new bunkers (for a total of 106).
72-HOLE RECORD: 267, Jon Rahm (2022)
18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Tony Finau (Round 4, 2022), Brandon Wu (Round 4, 2022)

HOW TO FOLLOW:
Television: Thursday-Friday, 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS)
For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR
PGA TOUR Live:
PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.–6:30 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio


Congratulations again to last weeks winner @seminoleed

There was a big shake up at the top of the leaderboard this week. @Nolerball , number 1 for the year falls to #4, while Mrs BFT takes the overall lead



good luck to everyone this week

FSU sports information:

The 2024 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships ended on Saturday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center for the No. 16/RV Florida State swimming and diving teams.

Tommaso Baravelli and David Vargas competed in championships heats before the 16th-ranked men’s team capped off the meet by earning an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 400 free relay.

In his second ACC platform final, Vargas sat in seventh place at the halfway mark. In the fourth round, Vargas jumped up to fifth place after he scored 66 points on his back 3 ½ somersault tuck, but he slipped back to sixth in the fifth.

Vargas changed his final dive from prelims and decided to perform a front 4 1/2 somersault tuck. As the only diver in the field attempting the 3.7 degree of difficulty dive, Vargas received scores of 8.0 for a total of 85.10, bringing his tally to 383.00 for fourth place.

Baravelli qualified sixth for the men’s 200 breast after swimming his best in prelims at 1:54.14, dropping over one second from his seed (1:55.35). At night, Baravelli swam faster, touching at 1:54.04 for seventh place.

Baravelli now owns the second-fastest swim in program history, just behind the record holder, Izaak Bastian (1:53.81).

The team of Mason Herbet, Peter Varjasi, Tobias Schulrath and Max Wilson added FSU’s third NCAA automatic relay qualifying time, clocking 2:49.95 for fifth place and fourth-fastest time in FSU history.

“It was an amazing week,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “We had some great swims and team energy and I am very proud of both teams. We’re looking forward to NCAA’s next month.”

The Seminoles had four score points in the men’s 1650 free, led by Jonathan Edwards in 12th place at 15:19.46 ahead of Yordan Yanchev (15:26.42) in 16th. David Quirie finished 17th (15:28.65) and Zach Smith was 18th (15:35.45).

Arijus Pavlidi pulled away in the back half of the men’s 200 back, winning the consolation heat with a time of 1:41.70 for ninth place overall.

The Seminoles had three in the bonus heat as Wilson led from wire-to-wire on the outside lane, touching with his personal best of 1:41.93 by almost two seconds, placing 17th overall. Andrew Rich followed in 19th (1:43.79) ahead of Jaka Pusnik (1:43.85) in 20th.

Varjasi clocked 42.42 in the consolation heat of the 100 free for 14th place.

Addition to Baravelli, Marcos Egri-Martin earned a second swim in the 200 breast after turning in his best time in prelims at 1:57.63. At night, he finished 24th at 1:59.54. His morning performance ranks ninth in program history.

Jesco Helling and Darwin Nolasco also scored on platform. Helling finished 12th at 295.05 and Nolasco scored 292.75 for 15th.

Julia Brzozowski finished 13th in the women’s 1650 free with a time of 15:19.46

Sydney Cole swam her career best in finals of the 200 back, touching at 1:56.45 to finish 20th. Her time is the eighth-fastest in school history.

Gloria Muzito followed in the bonus heat of the 100 free, touching at 49.46 placing 21st.

Julia Mansson and Maddy Huggins raced in the consolation heat of the 200 breast. Mansson placed 12th at 2:10.35, just ahead of Huggins in 13th (2:10.50).

Phoebe Griffiths, Jenny Halden, Edith Jernstedt and Gloria Muzito turned in an NCAA provisional time of 3:16.11 in the 400 free relay for eighth place to end the meet.

The Seminoles also competed in the women’s team diving event exhibition, taking silver at 308.75.

“My last ACC Championship did not disappoint,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “I am so proud of these athletes and coaches and this team. The Seminole family has just been incredible these last nine years and I am beyond blessed to have my collegiate coaching career be in Tallahassee. I love this place and people so much and will miss it. This group we brought to the meet will always be special to me. I’m so glad I got to do this with them. Thanks to FSU and the ACC for all of the wonderful experiences.”

The men finished sixth with a total of 762 points while the women placed seventh at 531.

James Tibbs III hit a pair of home runs and the FSU baseball team scored 20 runs for the first time since 2020 Sunday afternoon, coasting to a series sweep of Western Carolina to improve to 6-0.