While Florida State has built some momentum, fellow ACC foe Notre Dame continues to struggle.
The visiting Seminoles can record a third straight victory by handing the Fighting Irish their fourth consecutive defeat Saturday at South Bend, Ind.
From Nov. 28-Jan. 17, Florida State (10-12, 3-6 ACC) won twice in 12 games. The Seminoles have since won three of four, highlighted with a two-point road win at Miami, Fla., on Jan. 20.
Though Florida State remains inconsistent on the offensive end, it set season-conference highs for points and shooting percentage (54.7) last weekend’s 88-80 home win over Stanford in its most recent contest.
“They’ve really done a good job of keeping the game simple these last couple of weeks,” said first-year Seminoles coach Luke Loucks, whose squad has committed just 24 turnovers in the past three contests.
“There’s no secret sauce to winning. You just got to do your job every possession.
Veteran Chauncey Wiggins had 23 points against Stanford, and has totaled 41 on 13-of-22 shooting in the last two games. Meanwhile, Seminoles leading scorer Robert McCray V (14.4 ppg) has averaged 17.8 points on 50.9% shooting in the last four.
Florida State will also try for a sixth consecutive win over Notre Dame – and third straight at South Bend.
The Irish (11-12, 2-8) are mired in a 1-8 rut, and dropped three in a row following a 68-64 win over Boston College on Jan. 24 – their only victory in the last five games at home.
After losing to then-No. 17 Virginia in double-overtime at home Jan. 27, Notre Dame dropped its last two at Syracuse and No. 24 Louisville by a combined 25 points. The Irish shot 38.7% overall and 6-of-14 from the free-throw line during Wednesday’s 76-65 loss to the Cardinals.
Meanwhile, their last three opponents have averaged a combined 87.3 points.
“I’m proud of the guys because we fight,” Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “But, there are things we need to clean up, get better at.”
True freshman Jalen Haralson (15.2 ppg) was held to eight points, while committing six turnovers, Wednesday after totaling 46 points in the previous two games.
