Florida State has built a reputation as a road warrior.
The Seminoles (15-14, 8-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won four straight road games — their longest streak since the 2018-19 season — entering their final road game of the season Wednesday against Pitt.
That’s part of a larger remarkable resurgence for Florida State, which has won eight of its last 11 games after starting ACC play 0-5.
The most recent road victory was an 80-71 win at Georgia Tech on Saturday. Robert McCray V led the way with 20 points — his third 20-point game in the last four — but Thomas Bassong’s breakout game stole the show.
The French freshman tied his career high with 14 points and added a career-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double. He made 6 of 8 shots from the floor, including his only 3-pointer, and snagged seven offensive rebounds, helming FSU’s total of 18 and its 44-34 rebounding edge.
“Thomas usually is one of our hardest workers. It’s difficult sometimes for freshmen to be poised and consistent. But Thomas has done a really good job developing this year,” Florida State coach Luke Loucks said. “… Good things happen when Thomas is on the court. We’re going to need that down the stretch.”
The Seminoles enter the week solidly in the ACC tournament and could rise as high as the No. 7 seed.
Pitt, on the other hand, has work left to do to ensure it will not be among the bottom three teams left out of next week’s tournament in Charlotte.
The Panthers (11-18, 4-12) begin the final regular-season week in the 15th and final position for the ACC tournament. Although they have the same conference record, Pitt has the tiebreaker over Notre Dame by virtue of its head-to-head win.
A win in either of this week’s two games (at Syracuse on Saturday being the other) would go a long way towards locking up the Panthers’ spot.
Pitt took a step in the right direction with Saturday’s 72-56 win at Cal. Leading scorer Cameron Corhen (12.9 points per game) led the charge with 16 points, but Barry Dunning Jr. stepped up with 15 points and 12 boards for his first double-double since Dec. 2.
“Guys stepped up and made big plays, big shots, big free throws,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “(Dunning) rebounded the heck out of the basketball. Just really, really happy for my team, our guys.”
The Panthers are just 2-6 in home ACC games this season.
