Georgia Tech @ Florida State preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 24, 2018 ) Georgia Tech 77, Florida State 88

Dropping back-to-back road games cost Florida State its top 25 national ranking, but the Seminoles have returned to form thanks to strong 3-point shooting in winning two in a row entering Saturday’s home contest against Georgia Tech. Following losses at Pittsburgh and Boston College, the Seminoles hit a combined 22 shots from long range in back-to-back victories over Clemson and Miami, pulling within one game of .500 in ACC play.

It was sophomore guard M.J. Walker leading the outside barrage in Sunday’s 78-66 road victory at Miami, finishing a career-best 6-of-7 from 3-point range en route to a season-high 22 points. “I felt myself in the zone,” Walker told reporters after making 7-of-10 shots overall after making just 23.9 percent of his attempts in his previous eight games. “I knew it was just a matter of time.” The Yellow Jackets put a scare into second-ranked Duke last weekend but were unable to replicate that performance against 10th-ranked North Carolina on Tuesday, seeing a seven-point halftime deficit balloon to as much as 30 points in a 77-54 home defeat. “We had that stretch to start the game where we could have been up 10-0,” Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner told the media after his Yellow Jackets shot 35 percent from the field. “We just missed open shots and layups.”

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ABOUT GEORGIA TECH (11-10, 3-5 ACC): The Yellow Jackets gave up 13 3-pointers against the Tar Heels, an off night for a defense ranked sixth nationally in defending the long-range shot (27.8 percent). Sophomore guard Jose Alvarado, Georgia Tech’s leading scorer at 13.1 points per game, finished with just five points before leaving with a right ankle injury. Senior forward Abdoulaye Gueye led Georgia Tech with 14 points and has averaged 13.7 points in his previous three games.

ABOUT FLORIDA STATE (15-5, 3-4): Senior forward Terance Mann finished with his second double-double of the season Sunday, scoring 10 points with 10 rebounds and adding four assists. Leading scorer Mfiondu Kabengele scored 17 points against Miami and the sophomore forward, who averages 13.1 points per contest, is scoring 18.6 points on 57.4 percent shooting from the field in his past five games. The Seminoles’ two-game winning streak comes after losing four of their first five ACC contests.

TIP-INS

1. Georgia Tech junior F James Banks III leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring in ACC games at 13.1 points per game, but only scored seven against North Carolina after missing the shootaround due to illness.

2. The Seminoles, who are shooting 33.3 percent from 3-point range this season, are hitting 52.4 percent from long range in the past two games.

3. Florida State has won 11 of the past 13 games in the series, snapping a two-game losing streak with an 88-77 victory at Georgia Tech last season.

PREDICTION: Florida State 72, Georgia Tech 64