The Florida State Seminoles could find themselves in a position to reclaim the top spot in the ACC on Saturday night dependent upon what goes down in Durham on Thursday night. If that turns out to be the case, they’re still going to get a game effort from a Notre Dame Fighting Irish squad that enters off a satisfying win and cover against upstart Wake Forest last time out. Especially with the Noles taking the meeting in Tallahassee earlier this season.
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Back-to-back losses at Georgia Tech and Syracuse had the Noles’ 6-1 start to the ACC season nothing more than a memory a few weeks back, but Leonard Hamilton’s kids have bounced back in style rattling off three straight wins and covers to catapult themselves back into the thick of the ACC race. It started with a second half blowup in Miami and has been carried through 109-61 and 95-71 poundings of Clemson and N.C. State. They’ll invade ND 14-8-1 against the spread overall but just 2-3 on the true road.
The Irish had to have Tuesday night’s game against the Demon Deacons. If nothing more than to put an end to an annoying four-game losing streak, the dub earned the club back a little self-confidence. Though they covered in an 83-76 loss to North Carolina over the weekend, they failed to do so in their previous three games; two of which came at home in losses to Virginia and Duke. Notre Dame has covered six of its nine lined home games.
Matchup to Watch
Both teams shot the ball well in the first meeting with the Irish connecting on nearly 47 percent of their shots and the Seminoles 50 percent of theirs. They also turned the ball over almost an identical amount of times with ND coughing it up 17 times and the Noles 16. Where Florida State separated itself in the matchup came on the glass where it owned a +9 advantage. Jonathan Isaac reeled in a game-high 10 rebounds with three of them offensive. They led to easy put-backs or second chance opportunities, and in a game that was only decided by three points, it proved to be the decider.
Players to Watch
The Fighting Irish are one of the best 3 point shooting teams in the country. They knock their shots from distance down at a 40 percent clip and average 9.4 makes per game. FSU’s Achilles Heel on defense is defending the arc, and the trio of V.J. Beachem, Steve Vasturia, and Matt Farrell took complete advantage with them knocking down 11 of their 15 combined shots. As a team, ND shot 71.4 percent from deep and they’re likely to go that route once again. Should they rain ‘em down again, it’s highly likely they even this series up with this game now taking place in the comforts of their own gym.
Free College Basketball ATS Pick
This tilt will mark the Noles first visit to South Bend since the 2014 season when it was smashed 83-63 and came nowhere close to covering the 10 point spread. The number to beat in this one will be much shorter this time around, and that has me leaning towards backing the home team. Bonzie Colson has been at his absolute best when playing in front of the hometown faithful, and for all intents and purposes, he was kept in check in the first meeting. With him tearing it up close to the basket and the Irish shooters letting it go from deep, FSU is going to have its hands full trying to extend its win and cover streak to four.
College Basketball Odds: Notre Dame 79, Florida State 74
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