FSU Hoops Heads to Jamaica for Two

Florida State’s first trip away from Tallahassee this season takes the Seminoles to a place they’ve become familiar with — and it’s not an ACC venue. FSU will take part in the Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay for a pair of contests.

Florida State will face Colorado State on Friday and Fordham on Sunday. Fordham is off to a 1-1 start while the other group of Rams are 2-0. The Seminoles are coming off an 87-67 win over George Washington in its opener on Tuesday night. FSU visited Jamaica this past offseason.

The Match-Ups

Who: Florida State Seminoles (1-0) vs. Fordham Rams (1-1); Florida State vs. Colorado State Rams (2-0)
When: Friday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. EST; Sunday, Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. EST (CBS Sports Network)
Where: Montego Bay Convention Centre in Montego Bay, Jamaica

Key Players

For Florida State: Junior Terance Mann comes in leading the Seminoles in scoring and rebounding after finishing with 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting and eight rebounds in the opener. Junior center Chris Koumadje is coming off a career-night in which he tied or set new career-highs with 14 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Freshman guard M.J. Walker didn’t disappoint in his debut, scoring 12 points.

For Fordham: Joseph Chartouny, Will Tavares and Ivan Raut all average at least 14 points per game for the Rams. Chartouny, a 6-foot-3 guard, leads the team averaging 14.5 per game while shooting less than 36 percent. Tavares’ seven rebounds per game is a team-best while versatile Raut is shooting a team-best 60 percent from the field and 8-for-13 from deep.

For Colorado State: Junior guard Prentiss Nixon leads the Rams, averaging 16 points, 3.5 assists and two steals per game in two contests. Deion James, a junior forward, is averaging 12 points per game on 50 percent shooting to go with six rebounds per game. Nico Carvacho, a 6-11 sophomore, is averaging nine points and shooting just 33 percent, but has been a monster on the glass. Carvacho is averaging 17.5 boards per game — the best in the country — which includes 20 in Tuesday’s win over Winthrop.

What to Watch For:

3-Point Shooting: Florida State was 8-for-21 from beyond the 3-point arc on Tuesday night with three of those makes coming from freshman M.J. Walker. The Seminoles will be facing a couple of other teams in Jamaica, who don’t mind jacking them up. For Fordham, this is especially true as the Rams are attempting 24 3s per night. Unfortunately they’ve only made 14 with Raut being responsible for eight. Colorado State is 11-for-36 with four makes coming from Nixon.

Robbie Berwick: Florida State will see a familiar face when it takes on Colorado State on Sunday. Robbie Berwick, a junior guard, is averaging five points per game and 3-for-5 from the field this season for the Rams. Berwick spent two years in Tallahassee, but was injured for the second. As a freshman during the 2014-15 campaign, Berwick averaged 2.4 points for the Seminoles in almost 11 minutes per game.

FSU Freshmen: Wyatt Wilkes, Anthony Polite and RaiQuan Gray didn’t see much action in Tuesday’s opener against George Washington, but M.J. Walker and Mfiondu Kabengele both shined in their debuts. Walker was an efficient 4-for-5 from the field before finishing with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Kabengele, a redshirt freshman, finished with 10 points and a steal while being really active. Center Ike Obiagu recorded three blocks in his FSU debut.

The Battle Inside: Florida State should have a big advantage down low in the first of two games in Jamaica against Fordham. While FSU is the third tallest team in the country, Prokop Slanina is the only player for Fordham taller than 6-8, who gets more than 13 minutes per game. So far this season, Fordham is being outrebounded by 17 boards per game. Colorado State should provide a bigger challenge on the glass and on the block with the nation’s leading rebounder, Nico Carvacho. The Seminoles will have a ton of big bodies to throw at both teams, including a pair of 7-footers in Koumadje and Obiagu.

Number to Pay Attention To:

5-4: That’s Florida State’s record outside the United States under head coach Leonard Hamilton. The last trip outside the 50 states was to the U.S. territory, the Virgin Islands, two years ago. The Seminoles went 2-1 that trip, beating DePaul and Ohio following a loss to Hofstra.

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