Florida State @ NC State preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 2, 2019 ) NC State 73, Florida State 78

It's been an up and down year for North Carolina State, but the Wolfpack came up huge last time out, taking down No. 6 Duke 88-66 at home -- the Blue Devils' largest margin of defeat to an unranked opponent in 40 seasons under Mike Krzyzewski -- and now they look for a repeat performance in front of the hometown crowd Saturday against No. 8 Florida State. The Seminoles have won five of their last six after spanking Pittsburgh 82-67 and they have been ranked in the top 10 for a school-record seven straight weeks.

"We knew this was a big game as a team," Wolfpack guard Devon Daniels told reporters afterward. "We really locked in on the (scouting report), really looked at their tendencies and we knew we were going to have to bring it from the very (first) jump." NC State never trailed and refused to let Duke come any closer than 11 points in the second half in a much-needed win for a bubble team trying to position itself for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles have no such worries as they continue to challenge Louisville and Duke for the top spot in the conference and a win against NC State would tie the school mark for ACC wins (13) set a year ago. “Obviously, you’re always pleased when you’re able to get an ACC victory," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said after the Pittsburgh win. "This time of year, middle of February, you like to have your team hitting on all cylinders. I thought for 75 percent of the game, I thought we were pretty sharp. Twenty-five percent of the game concerns me. ... Utilize this to go back now and hopefully get better as we prepare for what I know is going to be another hard game against North Carolina State on Saturday.”

TIME: 4 p.m. ET. TV: ACC Network

ABOUT FLORIDA STATE (22-4, 12-3 ACC): Freshman Patrick Williams continues to come on strong for the Seminoles with 16 points and five rebounds against Pittsburgh and after reaching double figures in just one of his first eight ACC games this season, he has scored 10-plus points in four of the last five. "I think you’ve only seen him scratch the surface of his potential," Hamilton said. "I think he is going to get better and better. He’s going to make a huge difference to our team. He finds ways to make contributions. … He’s just working on trying to be a complete player. I’m very proud of him.” Devin Vassell is the team's leading scorer (13.0 per game) and rebounder (5.3) while Trent Forrest sits second in scoring (11.6) and first in assists (4.3) and steals (2.1).

ABOUT NC STATE (17-9, 8-7): Guards Markell Johnson (28 points) and Daniels (25 points) led the way with career-high scoring efforts against Duke, with Johnson also reaching personal highs for successful field goals (10) and 3-pointers (five). C.J. Bryce, the team's leading scorer with 13.7 points per game, had an off night with just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting, but he paced the team with 10 rebounds while Johnson, Daniels and D.J. Funderburk each finished with nine as the Wolfpack dominated Duke on the glass 51-43. NC State was 8-of-13 from deep against Duke, with Johnson nailing 5-of-6, as the team finished with its best 3-point shooting performance of the season (61.5 percent).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. NC State leads the series 31-26, but Florida State won the last meeting 78-73 in Tallahassee.

2. The 22-point win over Duke was NC State's largest margin of victory over a top 10 foe since 1965.

3. The Pittsburgh victory was the 100th of Forrest's career as a Seminole and he is the winningest player in school history.

PREDICTION: Florida State 76, NC State 70