The Daily Nole

Preview: FSU Set to Host Winthrop

Mike Olivella/FSU athletics

In a contest many saw as a true test for Florida State, the Seminoles passed with flying colors. FSU easily defeated Iona, 99-78 on Tuesday night to improve to 2-0 on the year. On Friday night, FSU will play its third home game — this time against Winthrop in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Winthrop is off to a 2-0 start as well and traditionally have been no slouch when it comes to hoops. The Eagles have won at least 19 games in each of the last three seasons and have eight NCAA Tournament appearances since 2000. Winthrop received all 30 first-place votes to win the Big South this season. This will be the first meeting between the schools.

The Match-Up

Who: Winthrop Eagles (2-0) at Florida State Seminoles (2-0)
When: Friday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. EST (ACC Network Extra)
Where: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, FL

Key Players

For Winthrop: Keon Johnson and Xavier Cooks may be separated by about a foot in height, but both can really score. The guards are each averaging 13.5 points per game this season. At 6-8 with the ability to shoot it from deep, Cooks is a walking mismatch. Forward Joshua Davenport, a 6-5 junior, is leading the team so far this season with 15 points and 4 assists per game. He’s also second on the team, averaging seven rebounds per contest. Junior Duby Okeke has provided the physicality down low, averaging 7 points, a team-high 8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

For Florida State: Guard Dwayne Bacon and forward Jonathan Isaac are long, young, athletic and can really score. Through two games, the two have combined to average 31.5 points per game on a combined 54 percent shooting and 53 percent from deep to go along with 4.5 steals. Redshirt junior guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes averages 10.5 points and a team-high 4.5 assists per game. Terance Mann, a sophomore slasher, has been a pleasant surprise so far, averaging 10 points on 75 percent shooting from the field.

What to Watch For

Terance Mann: Perhaps Florida State’s most improved player from a season ago is sophomore slasher Terance Mann. Mann did it all on Tuesday against Iona, finishing with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a block before fouling out. Mann has brought intensity and athleticism to the lineup. If you exclude his two misses from deep, Mann is 9-for-10 from the floor.

Points: If the last game for each of the two teams is any indication, points shouldn’t be hard to come by on Friday. The Seminoles just missed hitting the century mark against Iona on Tuesday while Winthrop scored 94 in a 13-point win at Manhattan. Both teams like to push the basketball, so don’t expect many long possessions or shot clock violations.

The battle on the glass: Against two smaller teams, the Seminoles have dominated the battle on the glass and that’s with 7-1 Michael Ojo and 7-4 Christ Koumadje playing just a combined nine minutes per game. So far, FSU is outrebounding opponents by an average of 13 boards per game. Friday should provide another opportunity for a solid rebounding performance. Winthrop doesn’t have a player taller than 6-8 and just lost the rebounding battle to the Jaspers, 39-36.

Point guard play: The point guard match-up on Friday looks to be a good one with FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes going against Keon Johnson. Johnson is just 5-7, but has a very good handle and finds a way to produce. Rathan-Mayes is averaging in double-figures scoring and at 6-4, is going to have a huge height advantage. Johnson will have to find a way to combat the 9-inch disparity. Rathan-Mayes will need to find a way to keep Johnson in front of him.

Number to Pay Attention To

93.5 That’s how many points FSU is averaging through two games, which ranks 28th in the country. FSU is 28-3 under head coach Leonard Hamilton when scoring at least 90 points.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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