Florida State will tip things off at high noon on Wednesday in Brooklyn as the eighth-seeded Seminoles take on the No. 9 seed Louisville Cardinals in the second round of the ACC Tournament.
At 20-10 and 9-9 in conference, the Seminoles have the look of a team relatively safe as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned. A win over the Cardinals would just throw cement on that and give FSU a rematch with top-seeded Virginia on Thursday.
As the conference tournament nears for head coach Leonard Hamilton’s group, here are five things to watch for:
1. Ike Obiagu
After a monster game against Boston College to close the regular season, freshman center Ike Obiagu could be a real force for the Seminoles in Brooklyn. Over his last three games, the 7-foot-1 Nigerian is averaging six blocks and five rebounds per contest. Obiagu was relatively quiet in games against Louisville and Virginia earlier this season, but could be an important piece as both of those schools play a halfcourt style of basketball.
2. Rebounding
If there is one area where Florida State could have a big advantage throughout the early parts of the ACC Tournament, it’s on the glass. With Obiagu and 7-4 Christ Koumadje up front, the Seminoles ranked fourth in the ACC this season in rebounding margin and were an average of +10 on the glass in the two regular season meetings with Louisville. Rebounding and particularly offensive rebounding isn’t a real strength for Virginia. FSU held a 31-27 edge over the Cavaliers in the only meeting this season.
3. Terance Mann
Junior slasher Terance Mann is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Seminoles this season, but has been quiet of late. After being held under 10 points just three times in his first 22 games, it has happened to the All-ACC honorable mention performer five times in the last seven games. In two games against Louisville this season however, Mann played very well. Mann averaged 18 points on a combined 14-for-23 shooting and five rebounds. That included a 25-point effort in the loss in Tallahassee on Jan. 10. Against Virginia on Feb. 7, Mann was held to just three points and three rebounds.
4. Free Throw Shooting
Of the many things to be frustrated about when it comes to Florida State basketball this season, one of the bigger ones is foul shooting. FSU is currently shooting just 69 percent from the charity stripe and among ACC schools, only Miami shoots it worse. Against Louisville during the regular season, the Seminoles shot just 68 percent. Late misses in the 80-76 win on Feb. 3 allowed Louisville to have a shot to tie the game after trailing by seven with less than 40 seconds to play. FSU went 13-for-19 or 68 percent against Virginia as well with some critical late misses.
5. Trent Forrest
For the final month of the regular season and at the very least, the final three weeks, Trent Forrest was Florida State’s best player. The sophomore guard is coming off a career-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in an 85-76 win over Boston College. Forrest’s coming out party was arguably in the Feb. 3 win over Louisville when he filled up the box score with 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Over his last five games, Forrest has averaged 14.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting better than 63 percent from the field. The FSU offense has simply looked better with Forrest running it.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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