Florida State has defeated all four of the ACC’s North Carolina-based schools for the first time in school history. Now it gets a chance to prove its first victory over Duke wasn’t a fluke.
The Seminoles shocked the Blue Devils when Michael Snaer made a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer for a 76-73 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 21.
Student tickets sold out in 15 minutes for the rematch, which is at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN).
“The fans are now saying we can beat anybody,” FSU’s Ian Miller told tallahassee.com. “They’ve seen it. And that’s what you want to hear. ... We’re changing the culture — like coach [Leonard Hamilton] said. It’s known as a football school, and we’re trying to get some love in the basketball land, too. We’re just changing the culture and helping build a foundation here.”
The victory over Duke has helped propel the 15th-ranked Seminoles (19-7, 10-2 ACC) to a first-place conference tie with the No. 5 Blue Devils (23-4, 10-2) and seventh-ranked North Carolina. The Tar Heels played Tuesday night.
It will be the first time that two top 15 teams have met in Tallahassee since No. 3 North Carolina defeated No. 6 FSU on Feb. 27, 1993.
FSU’s rise to first was propelled by a 33-point victory against North Carolina on Jan. 14, but the Seminoles advanced to the Sweet 16 last year and have won at least 10 ACC games for a school-record four consecutive seasons.
Hot shot
Harrison Barnes was the ACC’s player of the week after he averaged 23.5 points in victories over Miami and Clemson.
Barnes had 23 points in a win at Miami and came back with 24 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two assists in the victory over Clemson.
He ranks second in the ACC in scoring at 18 points per game.
“I think Harrison’s being the player that everybody tried to make him out to be a year and a half ago,” teammate Kendall Marshall said. “He’s becoming that player now. That’s not to insult his game at all. Sometimes players just have to grow into that. I think he’s done a great job of adjusting to the role. He is one of our main go-to guys.”
Have not
N.C. State’s Scott Wood has shot 42 percent from the 3-point line to lead the ACC, but he was 2-for-11 from the arc in two games last week.
He was 2-for-17 from the field last week, but he has made at least one 3-pointer in 24 consecutive games.
On a roll
- Freshman Nick Faust has provided Maryland with another scoring option. He averaged 14 points and five rebounds in the past three games and has reached double figures in four of his past five games.
- Boston College's Ryan Anderson, another freshman, scored 21 points Sunday and led the Eagles in scoring in three consecutive games. He has averaged 18.5 points in the past four games and 8.5 rebounds in the past nine.
- Clemson's Andre Young (Deerfield-Windsor School) scored at least 12 points in five consecutive games entering this week. He averaged 13.4 points in that span.
Around the conference
Referee Karl Hess was reprimanded by the ACC for the way he handled the ejections of former N.C. State stars Chris Corchiani and Tom Gugliotta from Saturday’s game. The ACC said Hess didn’t follow conference protocol in the ejections, summoning police officers and a security guard without conferring with a game-management official before the ejections. ... Virginia Tech has played seven games that have been decided in the final three seconds, including three last week. ... Wake Forest has lost seven of its past eight games.
Must-see TV
- North Carolina at Virginia, 4 p.m. Saturday (ESPN)
The Cavaliers would significantly boost their NCAA tournament chances with a victory against the Tar Heels. Virginia has 20 victories for the first time since 2006-07 and is 13-1 at home.
Quotable
“I think they are probably the most talented, especially physically. Their length and size is very difficult to deal with on both ends of the court. You know, they get more easy baskets than most teams because of how they are in transition. You have ... to pay so much attention defensively to get back that you don’t maybe go to the offensive boards as much or as hard. And so you’re not getting second shots very often.” — Clemson coach Brad Brownell on North Carolina
By the numbers
3 Games with at least 30 points by Maryland's Terrell Stoglin this season. No other ACC player has more than one.
56 North Carolina's home winning streak over Clemson after Saturday's 74-52 victory, the longest streak against one opponent in NCAA history. Clemson has never won a game in Chapel Hill, N.C.
