Well SU fans, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. It was a tough road to get here, but Syracuse basketball is back in the ACC Tournament as the 14th seed of a possible 15. The fact that this team almost missed the tournament for the first time ever says a lot, but the show must go on. It is confirmed that the Orange will take on Florida State in the first round on Tuesday at 7 p.m., so let’s dive into what kind of season the Seminoles have had and where SU could find an advantage.
Florida State finished its season with a 17-14 record, but just 8-12 in the conference. That was good enough for the ninth seed in this tournament, which puts them in the top half of the ACC technically. These two teams matched up back on January 4th, when FSU took down SU 90-74. For those who don’t remember, that game ended up being Donnie Freeman’s last game this season because of injury (and possibly his last ever in orange…) as well as the return of J.J. Starling. Unfortunately for the ‘Cuse, it was one of many games this season where Syracuse played a strong first half, but the wheels fell off the bus in the next 20 minutes.
The most notable news to come from Tallahassee in the past few days is that long-tenured FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton is retiring at the end of this season. Coaching since 2002, you have to think the Seminoles want to finish their season on a high note and not go down in the first round to an inferior Orange team.
But where can the Orange find an advantage? The best you can find on that front is that the Seminoles lack a dominant big. Two of the top three scorers on Florida State were all guards this season (Jamir Watkins, Daequan Davis,) and Malique Ewin stands as Eddie Lampkin’s competitor. Standing at just 6’11, 230 pounds, running the offense through Lampkin doesn’t seem like a terrible idea, especially after what he did to Ben Middlebrooks a few weeks back from NC State.
Aside from that, expect your typical sloppy ACC matchup. Both these teams are top three in the conference in turnovers per game, and struggle to find consistent offense. But hey, it’s March, anything can happen, and head coach Adrian Autry has a lot to prove after the past week.
