Seminoles
No. 15 FSU travels to face No. 17 Duke tonight in its final road basketball game.
TALLAHASSEE — With two games left until the postseason, the Florida State men’s basketball team cannot afford to get ahead of itself.
But as FSU attempts to stay among the top four teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, there is some slight relief the team is well on its way to accomplishing one of its biggest goals of the season.
“It’s a great feeling knowing we’re in the [NCAA] Tournament, but we’re not satisfied,” starting point guard Xavier RathanMayes saidMonday. “We’re not satisfied with anything that we’ve done yet. We’ve got to continue to gain on those things.”
The Seminolesmoved up four spots to No. 15 in the Associated Press top 25 poll on Monday and will finish the regular season against two more top 25 teams before the conference tournament.
First up: a trip to No. 17 Duke on Tuesday night for the final road game of the season. Then, a home finale against No. 25 Miami on Saturday.
FSU will likely reach its first NCAA Tournament since winning the ACC in 2012. But the team is fully aware of the valuable lessons it still needs to master with the handful of contests remaining before the BigDance.
The Seminoles just won their third road game of the season last Saturday, a twopoint victory at Clemson that ended with the Seminoles celebrating joyously in the locker roomsafter the game.
“It was definitely stressrelieving just because a lot of people felt like we couldn’t win on the road,” standout sophomore Dwayne Bacon said. “Just getting that win to start off our last [two] road games was big for us. We needed that. We came out and fought all night. . . . We just have to come out and get ready for Duke now.”
The Duke game will culminate a two-game series that has seen both teams hit respective peaks and valleys during the college basketball season.
FSUbeatDuke for its12th consecutive victory this season in January, midway through a daunting stretch that sawthe Seminoles beat five of six top 25 teams. Since, the Seminoles have lost five of seven road games in conference play.
Duke, on the other hand, rattled off a seven-gamewin streak with Mike Krzyzewski’s return to the bench from back surgery. But the BlueDevilshave lost their last two games in close finishes at Syracuse and Miami lastweek.
Duke will hostFSUfor its final home game of the season and Krzyzewski expects both guard Grayson Allen (left ankle) and Amile Jefferson (bone bruise in right foot) to play, but officially deemed both players as game-time decisions.
“They’re playing with such an extreme amount of confidence and poise,” Hamilton said of Duke’s recent play.
If Florida State is able to keep pace in the standings, the Seminoles could enter the ACC Tournament (March 7-11 in Brooklyn) with a top-four seed that results in a double-bye and a trip straight to the quarterfinals.
FSU is currently second in the standings as the final week begins despite its tied 11-5 conference record with No. 8 Louisville and No. 19 Notre Dame. Duke and Miami (10-6) could also enter the top-four mix.
The Seminoles hope the recent resolve on the road translates to another victory in one of the toughest environments in college basketball.
“I thoughtwe did a really good job of weathering the storm and bounce back, not getting our heads down and just staying confident with what we were doing,” Rathan-Mayes said of the Clemson win. “and it really showed off.”
Added Hamilton: “We showed we’re kinda growing up a little bit. We didn’t panic, and the look in their eyes— theywere extremely confident. Thatwasencouraging.”