Florida State (13-6, 4-4) looks to salvage what it can from the West Coast road trip on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Stanford (13-6, 5-3). The game tips at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.
We've hit both ends of the pendulum in a week with the Seminoles. A resume-building win over Pitt at home, and now the season's worst loss at Cal, which was 129 in KenPom going into the game. The Seminoles hadn't won on the road except for Miami, but they also had avoided the sub-100 losses until the flat showing against the Golden Bears.
FSU needs to get some confidence back and a road win would be a start. We all know the NCAA Tournament is a long shot absent the automatic bid as league champion. This game could tell us about the team's resolve (and leadership) after a tough loss.
No clarity on Chandler Jackson's availability for the game. Freshman AJ Swinton is also out.
But the Seminoles will need to play with more effort from the start, especially on the offensive glass. Maxime Raynaud is 7-foot-1 and 250 pounds and averages 21.2 points and 11.6 rebounds. Should be a difficult but fun 1-on-1 matchup with Malique Ewin.
Ewin is up to five straight double-doubles - 16 points and 10 rebounds against Cal. He is averaging 17.2 points and 10.8 rebounds in his last five games.
As we've also discussed, FSU needs more from the likes of Justin Thomas (three rebounds, two blocks, one assist in 25 minutes) and Bostyn Holt (two points, one assist in 15 minutes). Especially if Jackson is unavailable.
FSU will wear the turquoise uniforms against Stanford, the first time since the win over Tulane in December.
Stanford opened January with road losses to Clemson and Pitt but has bounced back to go 4-1, including a road win over UNC (72-71). The Cardinal make 52.5 percent of shots inside the arc, 33.8 from long range and are an impressive 77.6 at the line. Stanford also is capable of pressuring on the defensive end with blocks and steals.
We've hit both ends of the pendulum in a week with the Seminoles. A resume-building win over Pitt at home, and now the season's worst loss at Cal, which was 129 in KenPom going into the game. The Seminoles hadn't won on the road except for Miami, but they also had avoided the sub-100 losses until the flat showing against the Golden Bears.
FSU needs to get some confidence back and a road win would be a start. We all know the NCAA Tournament is a long shot absent the automatic bid as league champion. This game could tell us about the team's resolve (and leadership) after a tough loss.
No clarity on Chandler Jackson's availability for the game. Freshman AJ Swinton is also out.
But the Seminoles will need to play with more effort from the start, especially on the offensive glass. Maxime Raynaud is 7-foot-1 and 250 pounds and averages 21.2 points and 11.6 rebounds. Should be a difficult but fun 1-on-1 matchup with Malique Ewin.
Ewin is up to five straight double-doubles - 16 points and 10 rebounds against Cal. He is averaging 17.2 points and 10.8 rebounds in his last five games.
As we've also discussed, FSU needs more from the likes of Justin Thomas (three rebounds, two blocks, one assist in 25 minutes) and Bostyn Holt (two points, one assist in 15 minutes). Especially if Jackson is unavailable.
FSU will wear the turquoise uniforms against Stanford, the first time since the win over Tulane in December.
Stanford opened January with road losses to Clemson and Pitt but has bounced back to go 4-1, including a road win over UNC (72-71). The Cardinal make 52.5 percent of shots inside the arc, 33.8 from long range and are an impressive 77.6 at the line. Stanford also is capable of pressuring on the defensive end with blocks and steals.
