In his first visit to Coral Gables as a freshman last season, Florida State's Xavier Rathan-Mayes put on a ridiculous performance by scoring 30 points in a span of 4:38. His performance dulled the fact that the Seminoles lost the game. What can we expect in an encore? Maybe a FSU win this time?
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HOW THE FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Florida State's height advantage in the post could pose a problem for the undersized Hurricanes and expect 7-foot-3 center Boris Bojanovsky and 7-foot-4 backup Chris Koumadje to exploit that advantage. But the Noles' guards are a talented group as well.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga called the trio of Dwayne Bacon, Malik Beasley and Xavier Rathan-Mayes, “bound for the NBA.” And that gives us some idea of where he thinks FSU will look to attack. Bacon and Beasley both average around 17 points per game and Rathan-Mayes put on an unbelievable performance when he visited Coral Gables last Feb. 26.
In a memorable stretch of four minutes, 38 seconds, Rathan-Mayes scored 30 points, including 26 straight FSU points without missing a shot, as he tried to rally the Seminoles from an 18-point deficit. He didn't, but that 4:38 will be remembered more than the outcome of the game.
With its three-guard attack, Florida State likes to push the pace and score. As crazy as it sounds, FSU has a better chance when the game is in the 70-80 point range. The Noles are 20th nationally in tempo, according to KenPom.com, which is No. 1 in the ACC.
HOW THE MIAMI HURRICANES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Miami enters Saturday's game with a 1-0 ACC record, and guard Ja'Quan Newton is confident there are many more wins to come. The No. 12 Hurricanes have played only two ranked teams - Utah and Butler - and won them both. Their league victory came last Saturday against Syracuse and their strength of schedule is only 69th.
As a result, the matchup against Florida State offers a welcome chance to see if Miami is as good as Newton and the poll voters believe. The Hurricanes' lone loss came at home against Northeastern and their past six games have been double-digit wins.
The Hurricanes would like to get off to a better start against their in-state rivals than they have in their past two contests. Miami scored just 27 and 17 points in the first half of those games, something Larranaga blamed on an erratic practice schedule over the holidays.
Even with those recent problems, Miami ranks 15th in the nation in shooting and 26th in scoring, averaging nearly 84 points. The Cane's will need their shooting touch because a high-scoring game is likely.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
With both teams averaging better than 82 points per game, this sets up to be a high-scoring affair. And with loads of talent on the court on both sides, they likely won't disappoint. FSU has three legitimate scoring threats and it'll be interesting to see how the Canes try to shut down an offense that averages 82.1 points and has yet to score fewer than 70 in a game this season. If they fail, the Hurricanes' best option is to try and outscore the Seminoles, and that could be a problem considering the slow starts experienced in the past two games. Outside of those two games the Hurricanes have been good. And you know they'll be pumped in this rivalry game so don't look for another bungled opening. After dropping their first two league games, the Noles really need a win as they venture into a five-game stretch that includes four contests against teams ranked in the top 25. There is little room for error, but the Seminoles are a bit too green to jump that hurdle now.
Miami 87, Florida State 82
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