Before Florida State and Southern Mississippi meet on the gridiron, they’ll meet on the hardwood. The Seminoles are coming off a 69-58 win over Charleston Southern and will look to close non-conference play on a winning streak Thursday.
The Golden Eagles have won four straight with the most recent being a 75-58 home victory over William Carey. The Seminoles used a career-high 27 points from P.J. Savoy to beat Southern Mississippi last season in Tallahassee, 98-49.
The Match-Up
Who: Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (7-4) at No. 24 Florida State Seminoles (10-1)
When: Thursday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. EST (ACC Network Extra)
Where: Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida
Key Players
For Southern Mississippi: Junior guard and Florida native Cortez Edwards leads Southern Mississippi, averaging 17.4 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field. Edwards also averages better than six rebounds and a team-high 1.8 steals per game. Tyree Griffin averages nearly 16 points, 5.6 boards and a team-high 5.9 assists per game. Dominic Magee averages nearly 12 points per game to go with a team-high 6.5 rebounds per contest.
For Florida State: While shooting 65 percent from the field, Terance Mann averages 16.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game to lead the Seminoles. Senior forward Phil Cofer, who averages 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, is shooting 55 percent and has been FSU’s scoring leader in each of the last two games. Guards Braian Angola and C.J. Walker combine to average better than 22 points per contest.
What to Watch For
Phil Cofer: The senior forward has continued his breakthrough season for the Seminoles with stellar performances in each of his last two games. Against Oklahoma State and Charleston Southern, Cofer has averaged 20.5 points, five rebounds, two steals and is shooting 60 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
P.J. Savoy: Junior guard P.J. Savoy has been slumping of late for FSU, averaging just 1.8 points per game over his last five. Regarded as a 3-point specialist, Savoy is just 3-for-11 from deep over that span. It was against Southern Miss last season that Savoy burst onto the scene however. Savoy scored a career-high 27 points on 8 of 11 shooting and 7-for-10 from downtown. Hopefully for the Las Vegas native, another contest against the Golden Eagles is just what he needs.
3-Point Shooting: It was a strength in last season’s contest for Florida State, thanks largely to a monster night from Savoy. As a team, FSU shot 14-for-29. Southern Mississippi on the other hand, shot just 5-for-28 from downtown. The Golden Eagles, led by guard Kevin Holland, are shooting just 34 percent from deep this season, but have help opponents to just 33 percent. The Seminoles are shooting nearly 36 percent from downtown while holding opponents to 30 percent.
Cortez Edwards: Guard Cortez Edwards is the player to watch for Southern Mississippi. Despite being just 6-foot-2 and weighing just 180 pounds, Edwards has shown capable of filling up the box score. The Kissimmee native has scored in double-figures in every game except one, including 28 on 9-for-15 shooting his last time out. If the Golden Eagles are to keep this one interesting, expect Edwards to be a big reason why.
Number to Pay Attention To
23: That’s the number of consecutive non-conference home games that Florida State has won. The last loss came to Nebraska in December 2014.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
Mike Olivella/FSU athletics
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