Florida State @ Boston College preview
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Last Meeting ( Mar 7, 2020 ) Boston College 62, Florida State 80
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton watched his explosive team fizzle Saturday against a hungry Georgia Tech squad which snapped his squad's five-game winning streak.
"The entire team ... we normally make close to 230 passes a game," Hamilton said after the 76-65 loss. "We were way, way down. We didn't move the ball well enough. It was like we were stepping mud. We were just not as efficient as we have been."
The No. 20 Seminoles (10-3, 6-2 ACC) have an opportunity to regroup quickly when they travel north to take on Boston College on Tuesday night in Chestnut Hill, Mass. It is the second of a four-game road trip for Florida State.
While Florida State is on a 22-game winning streak at home against ACC opponents, Saturday's loss was only its third road game of the season and dropped its record away from Tallahassee to 1-2.
The Eagles (3-10, 1-6) have not played since a Jan. 16 loss at Notre Dame due to a COVID-19 positive test. Boston College's past four scheduled games against Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Clemson and Louisville were postponed, but the team conducted its first limited practice since the pause on Saturday.
It's unclear how many players will be available against the Seminoles.
Florida State scored its fewest points of the season after entering Saturday's game averaging 79.3 points per contest. They committed 20 turnovers, which negated an otherwise respectable defensive effort holding the Yellow Jackets to 38 percent shooting overall in the first half and 29.2 percent from 3-point range for the game.
Florida State shot 24 for 56 (42.9 percent), which was under its 47.6 percent coming into the game, and 3-for-14 from 3-point range (21.4 percent) -- well below its 37.9 percent output for the season. They also missed 9-of-23 free throw attempts.
"I think we shot ourselves in the foot," said Seminoles forward RaiQuan Gray, who finished with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. "We're definitely a better offensive team than what we showed. We kind of let the turnovers affect our aggression."
Boston College is led by the backcourt trio of Jay Heath (13.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists per game), Wynston Tabbs (13.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists) and Rich Kelly (10.6 points, 2.2 assists).
Heath finished with a career-high 27 points and Kelly scored 25 as the Eagles made 18 3-pointers in their lone ACC victory over Miami on Jan. 12. But Boston College, shooting 34.5 percent from 3 for the season, reverted to a 31 percent shooting output from long distance against Notre Dame.
"We have a team that competes, but there's a difference between that and knowing what it takes to win on the road," Boston College coach Jim Christian said after the Notre Dame contest. "We didn't get that spark."
On the plus side for the Eagles, Steffon Mitchell was coming off his most productive games of the season prior to the break. Mitchell (8.6 points, team-best 7.2 rebounds per game) has averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds over the Eagles' past two games, and recorded his second double-double (16 points and 13 rebounds) of the season against Notre Dame.
"He's playing with more confidence and attacking the basket more," Christian said. "He's rebounding well and getting his hands on passes and helping everybody."
--Field Level Media