It’s official. The Florida State Seminoles are one of the final 16 teams in College Basketball that still has a chance to win a National Championship this year. Sunday night, the ‘Noles put on an incredibly impressive performance against one of the nation’s most efficient offenses which led to a 71-57 victory. An oustanding defensive performances was to be expected from the Seminoles. But what Florida State also did, was show up on the offensive end of the court in a way that FSU fans simply haven’t been used to this season.
As a team, FSU shot 9-19 from behind the arch on the night and finished with 46% shooting from the field. Four of the Seminole starters scored in double digits and even the struggling Deividas Dulkys came out with a hot hand, shooting 3-5 from the floor after previously going 2-23 in a three game stretch.
The big performance of the night came from Bernard James, who continues to prove his value and worth to the FSU basketball team. James’ play has been extremely consistent and it was no different against Notre Dame when he dropped a team high 14 points. After last night, the Seminoles are still undefeated when James takes at least 7 shots from the floor. Per usual, James was proficient at securing rebounds with 10 on the night and a dominant force on the defensive end of the court with three blocked shots and many others altered. To add a little more “wow” to the equation, James played in Sunday night’s game with a stomach virus, stating afterwards that at times he felt as if he was going to throw up.
Ironically, with the fanfare and excitement surrounding the return of Chris Singleton, the star was not a huge factor in Sunday night’s game at all. He is still easing his way back into the full swing of things and only contributed 10 minutes of play.
The Seminoles managed to stifle the ND offense to the tune of 30% shooting on the night and an abysmal 7-30 from three point land. As the tournament progresses, the FSU defense continues to be a major topic of discussion and the program continues to gain great exposure. As an 10-seed toppling a 2-seed and doing so convicingly, FSU is now a victory over VCU away from the Elite Eight. There is a strong buzz in Tallahassee and this team will need to keep it’s focus and energy up as they get set to head to San Antonio next weekend.
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