Florida State: 18-12, 8-10 in the ACC
Head Coach: Leonard Hamilton
Leading Scorer: G Dwayne Bacon (15.8 PPG)
Season Recap: The Seminoles returned all five starters from the 2014-15 campaign and added talented freshmen guards Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley to the mix but finished with the same 8-10 ledger in conference play this year. The pair contributed a combined 31.5 points per game to lead to the conference’s third-ranked scoring offense, but off nights for Bacon and Beasley made it difficult for the team to settle into a rhythm.
Florida State’s tough schedule to kick off conference play did not help its hopes of a winning season as then-No. 7 North Carolina outlasted the Seminoles 106-90 Jan. 4 and then No. 12 Miami got going in the second half to hand the in-state rival a 72-59 loss Jan. 9. Florida State upset then-No. 11 Virginia 69-62 Jan. 17 thanks to a combined 35 points from Bacon and Beasley and enjoyed a four-game win streak from Jan. 26 to Feb. 6 before things came to a screeching halt in the form of five straight losses. The Seminoles, though, enter the first round of the ACC tournament as the No. 11 seed with two straight wins to their name, including a 77-56 blowout of then-No. 20 Notre Dame.
How They Make a Run: The Seminoles will continue to rely on Bacon and Beasley as their top scorers but will also look to veterans Xavier Rathan-Mayes—who has not rediscovered his shooting prowess from a dynamic freshman season—and Devon Bookert for contributions. If Florida State can replicate its early-season 72-62 victory against Boston College Tuesday against the Eagles, it will have its chance to avenge a loss against Virginia Tech from its midseason five-game slump . The Seminoles have no problems scoring, but will have to clamp down on defense for 40 minutes to avoid losing a late lead to the Hokies, as was the case Feb. 20.
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