Florida State @ Clemson preview

Florida State at Clemson

Last Meeting ( Feb 24, 2024 ) Florida State 63, Clemson 74

Florida State rolls into its ACC matchup at Clemson on Saturday having won four of its past five games.

The Seminoles (11-4, 2-2 ACC) are riding the high of an 80-65 win over Miami on Wednesday where they dominated from start to finish, thriving off a determined effort to share the basketball. They finished the night with 26 assists on 32 made field goals.

"That was a team effort and that is what we've been working for all year," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said after the game.

Malique Ewin continues to have a major impact on the fate of the Seminoles. He scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year while Taylor Bol Bowen finished with 16 points and six boards. Jamir Watkins, often the leading scorer of this FSU team, tallied 10 as he pushed his double-digit scoring streak to 12 games.

Watkins is averaging 18.7 points per game while Ewin is putting up 13.7 points per outing. He's also reached double figures in 12 consecutive games.

The Seminoles are shooting 47.3 percent from the field while racking up 218 assists as a team (14.5 per game). Both shooting the ball well and distributing it will be key against Clemson (12-4, 4-1), which is tied for second in the ACC standings and is aiming to bounce back after a 74-64 loss to Louisville on Tuesday.

Head coach Brad Brownell is hoping for a better effort than what he saw against the Cardinals.

"I was disappointed in our quality of play," he told reporters after the game. "And that's on your head coach. Your head coach has to have your team playing better."

Chase Hunter scored 15 points to pace the Tigers in the loss while Ian Schieffelin recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 boards.

Hunter is averaging 17.2 points per game and Schieffelin ranks second at 13.4 ppg. They will test the Seminoles defensively, as Hunter has knocked down 43.7 percent of his 3-point tries this season and Schieffelin has added 10.8 rebounds per game -- 3.4 on the offensive glass.

Clemson has been tough at home this season, going 9-1 overall and it is 3-0 against conference opponents.

--Field Level Media