The 2017-18 regular season will come to an end on Saturday for Florida State as the Seminoles celebrate Senior Day against Boston College. FSU will look to bounce back after losing consecutive road contests and pick up a win that could be the difference between making the NCAA Tournament and not.
The Eagles defeated FSU in Chestnut Hill earlier this season, 81-75, on Jan. 15. FSU had won the previous six and nine of the 10 prior meetings coming into that contest. The Eagles are coming off an 85-70 win over Syracuse. FSU beat Boston College in Tallahassee last season, 104-72.
The Match-Up
Who: Boston College Eagles (17-13, 7-10 ACC) at Florida State Seminoles (19-10, 8-9 ACC)
When: Saturday, March 3 at 2 p.m. EST (ACC Network)
Where: Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida
Key Players
For Boston College: Junior guard Jerome Robinson shoots 51 percent from the field and scores nearly 21 points per game to lead Boston College. Robinson leads the ACC in points per game and ranks fourth in 3-point percentage at 44 percent. Ky Bowman averages nearly 17 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Chatman, a 6-foot-5 guard, averages nearly 13 points per game.
For Florida State: Terance Mann, a junior slasher, is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Seminoles, averaging 13.5 points and 5.7 boards. Mann is shooting nearly 56 percent from the field. Phil Cofer, a senior forward, isn’t far behind in either category, averaging 13.4 points and 5.3 rebounds. Senior guard Braian Angola scores nearly 13 points per game and leads the team in made 3-pointers.
What to Watch For
FSU seniors: Celebrating Senior Day could make Saturday an emotional one for three FSU seniors. Phil Cofer, Braian Angola and Brandon Allen will all be playing their final regular season home game on Saturday. Cofer and Angola rank second and third on the team in scoring and first and second in 3-pointers made. Allen, a walk-on, has played sparingly throughout the course of his career.
3-point shooting: The 3-ball has not been kind to Florida State — either offensively or defensively — of late, but was a big factor in the first meeting back in January. FSU went just 5-for-26 from downtown while Boston College was a respectable 9-for-23. The Eagles have made the third-most 3-pointers in the ACC this season while FSU ranks just 12th in 3-point percentage.
Terance Mann: Florida State’s leading scorer and rebounder, Terance Mann, has been in a noticeable rut of late. In Wednesday’s 76-63 loss to Clemson, Mann finished with just three points on 1-for-9 shooting. For the season, Mann has been held to single-digits scoring just seven times, but four of those occasions have come in the last six games. It is worth noting that Mann paced the Seminoles with 21 points in the first meeting against Boston College, but on just 8-for-19 shooting.
BC’s Big 3: The 3-headed monster of Jerome Robinson, Ky Bowman and Jordan Chatman has combined to score more than 66 percent of Boston College’s points this season. That number grows when the fact that Deontae Hawkins was averaging 12.4 points per game before a season-ending injury is factored in. Those three combined for 64 percent of the Eagles’ 81 points in the first meeting. Boston College also got good efforts from Nik Popovic and Steffon Mitchell, who combined for 27 points, that night. If the Seminoles are able to keep Boston College’s trio in check, it’ll be tough for the supporting cast to beat them.
Number to Pay Attention To
80: That’s been the magic scoring number for Florida State in ACC play this season. When the Seminoles hit that threshold, they’re 8-1. When they don’t, they’re 0-8.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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