Florida State has never won the ACC basketball championship.
So history is against the Seminoles, but they’re tied for first in the conference — thanks to their upsets of North Carolina and Duke — with a favorable remaining schedule.
FSU is 13-6 overall and 0-2 against Ivy League schools, but the Seminoles are 4-1 in the ACC. They moved into The Associated Press Top 25 at No. 23 this week.
“We’ve been [in the poll] before and didn’t handle it correctly,” coach Leonard Hamilton told the AP. “I’m more concerned about where we are in March.”
FSU entered 2012 at 8-5, with losses to Harvard and Princeton. The Seminoles opened ACC play with a 20-point loss at Clemson, but then beat Virginia Tech, blew out North Carolina by 33 points and defeated Maryland before ending Duke’s 45-game home-court winning streak Saturday.
They’ve been strong on defense under Hamilton, but now can score, thanks to Michael Snaer, who has averaged 13.5 points and made the game-winner against the Blue Devils, Deividas Dulkys, who scored 32 against the Tar Heels, and Ian Miller, who has averaged 12.3 points after being ineligible for the first 11 games.
The Seminoles also are one of the more experienced teams in the ACC, with two graduate students, four seniors — including Savannah’s Bernard James, who will be 27 on Feb. 7 — and five juniors back from a team that was 23-11 and reached the Sweet 16.
“Well, they’re the most experienced, the oldest team in our league, and they’re as deep as anybody, and they play really good defense,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “You know, they have men.”
Hot shot
N.C. State’s Scott Wood set an ACC record with 58 consecutive free throws when he made all seven of his attempts in the Wolfpack’s 78-73 victory over Miami on Sunday.
He passed former Duke guard J.J. Redick, who made 54 in a row in 2003-04.
Wood’s career free-throw percentage is 89.3 percent (108-of-121).
Have not
Virginia had so much going for it.
Despite a loss at Duke, the Cavaliers were playing well before Virginia Tech came to town. And they had won 10 in a row at home before shooting a season-low 32.6 percent from the field and only 7.1 percent from the 3-point line in a 47-45 loss to Virginia Tech, which had lost four consecutive games.
On a roll
North Carolina’s Tyler Zeller has had a double-double in each of his past three games. He has averaged 14.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in that stretch.
Wake Forest’s C.J. Harris has scored at least 10 points in 18 consecutive games and is the third-leading scorer in the ACC at 17.3 points.
Freshman Ryan Anderson has four double-doubles after he scored 13 points and had 11 rebounds in Boston College’s loss to Wake Forest.
Local ties
Tanner Smith is flourishing under Clemson coach Brad Brownell.
The senior guard from Alpharetta, who played at Wesleyan, is the only ACC player who has averaged at least 10 points, five rebounds and four assists per game.
And although he has averaged 10.9 points per game, he set his career high with 26 points in a victory over Southern Illinois on Dec. 23 and scored 23, with four 3-pointers, in a loss to Miami on Jan. 18.
Smith had only three points in Clemson’s victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday, but those came on a 3-pointer, extending his 3-point streak to 11 consecutive games, second best in the conference.
Around the conference
Look for Reggie Bullock to see more playing time now that North Carolina will be without shooting guard Dexter Strickland for the rest of the season. Strickland tore his right ACL in a win over Virginia Tech. Coach Roy Williams said he will use Strickland and a combination of players to fill the void. ... The Tar Heels have won 10 consecutive games against N.C. State, their longest streak against the Wolfpack since winning 10 straight from 1967-70. The rivals play Thursday.
Must-see TV
Florida State at Wake Forest, 7 p.m. Thursday (FSSO)
The Seminoles are the hottest team in the ACC and take their four-game winning streak on the road, where they are 2-3.
Quotable
“Oh, I think our players will be excited. They’ve been excited to play every game, but this game’s different. There is no question. It feels different to your players, fans, students on campus. So our players are very well aware of that. For us, it’s just a great opportunity, and I think our players view it like that.” — N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried on Thursday’s game against North Carolina
By the numbers
7 Combined margin of defeat in Virginia's three losses.
15 Consecutive points scored by Clemson's Andre Young (Deerfield-Windsor) on his way to 29 points in a win over Georgia Tech.
