Florida State could be in contention for an NIT bid after winning back-to-back games against Virginia and Notre Dame.
The 74-70 win over the Fighting Irish on Wednesday was a shocker, but the Seminoles featured four players with at least 12 points, and a fifth had nine.
FSU played Notre Dame without injured wing Matthew Cleveland, center Naheem McLeod, shooting guard Caleb Mills and post player Malik Osborne.
NC State (11-19 overall, 4-15 ACC) plays at Florida State (16-13 overall, 9-10 ACC) at 2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2.
Overview
Florida State has gone with a "big" lineup in light of the injuries.
Senior center Tanor Ngom, who is 7-foot-2 and 236 pounds, is joined up front by 7-1, 190-pound freshman John Butler. Add in 6-8 senior forward Wyatt Wilkes and the Seminoles will be long, but might lack foot quickness.
Veteran guards RayQuan Evans and Anthony Polite Jr. anchor the backcourt, and perhaps freshman Matthew Cleveland will return to the lineup if back from a non-COVID illness. Cleveland hit the game-winning three-pointer against Virginia on a heave Feb. 26.
Rankings
Florida State is No. 99 in the NET rankings this season, and NC State is No. 143.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Seminoles currently ranked No. 88 overall, and NC State is No. 121.
KenPom.com has Florida State at No. 105, and NCSU checks in at No. 133.
RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 210 in the country, and Florida State is No. 86.
Shooting
Florida State is averaging 70.9 points per game and shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 34.1 percent on three-pointers and 70.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Butler at 7-1 is actually the top three-point shooter of the regulars. He has gone 30-of-75 from three-point range, but can't make a free throw at 7 of just 19 at line. Walk-on senior power forward Harrison Prieto is 9 of 20 on three-pointers.
Rebounding
FSU is averaging 34.7 rebounds per game, and is giving up the same amount. The Seminoles have 329 offensive rebounds, with Cleveland having a team-high 41.
Polite leads the squad with 5.4 rebounds per game among the healthy players. Cleveland has chipped in 4.7 boards per game.
Defense
The Seminoles are allowing 71.0 points per game, with opponents shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Butler leads the squad with 31 blocks, with Ngom with 13 blocks. Evans has 37 steals, freshman wing Jalen Warley has 34 steals and Polite has 33 steals in 22 games.The Seminoles have racked up 135 blocks and 253 steals.
Depth
The once-proud deep Florida State bench has been reduced to two scholarship players and a walk-on against Notre Dame.
Kentucky small forward transfer Cam'Ron Fletcher is averaging 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game. Warley is averaging 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 19.4 minutes a contest.
Prieto, who is 6-8 and 230 pounds, is in his sixth year at FSU. He is averaging 3.6 points in 12.3 minutes a contest, and he has appeared in 19 games.
If Cleveland is back from illness, he is second on the team with 11.4 points per game. Cleveland is shooting 44.9 percent from the field, but is a woeful 6 of 32 from beyond the arc.
Star Watch
Fifth-year senior wing Anthony Polite Jr. returned to action against Notre Dame on Wednesday, and had 12 points, three rebounds and two assists in the 74-70 upset victory. He went 2 of 4 on three-pointer and the Seminoles made 12 of 29 from beyond the arc in the game.
White injured his wrist Feb. 2 against Clemson and missed a month of action. He had been playing some of his best ball just prior to getting hurt. He had 17 points, six rebounds and three steals in a 85-72 loss vs. Virginia Tech on Jan. 29. Polite had 15 points and seven assists in a 61-60 victory at Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 22.
Polite is averaging 9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season. He's shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 32.9 percent on three-pointers and 80.6 percent at the free-throw line.
The 6-6, 214-pounder averaged 10.1 points a contest and shot 43.6 percent on three-pointers last year. He scored a season-high 22 points and went 4 of 7 on three-pointers in a 71-53 win over Colorado in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Polite exploded for 25 points on 10 of 14 shooting in a 97-60 win over Lipscomb on Dec. 15. He has scored in double figures in nine contests this season.
Polite, whose father played at FSU, was a Rivals.com three-star prospect in the class of 2017 coming out of Boca Raton (Fla.) St. Andrews School. He had 15 scholarship offers.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, R-Soph., 17.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.4 spg)
SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 160, Fr., 16.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.4 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Jr., 7.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.0 spg)
PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr., 13.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 spg)
C — 21 Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, Soph., 4.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 0.2 apg, 1.8 bpg)
Florida State
PG — 0 RayQuan Evans (6-4, 210, Sr., 8.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.5 spg)
SG — 2 Anthony Polite (6-6, 214, Sr., 9.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.5 spg)
SF — 31 Wyatt Wilkes (6-8, 220, Sr., 3.9 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 1.2 apg)
PF — 22 John Butler (7-1, 190, Fr., 5.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 0.7 apg, 1.1 bpg)
C — 11 Tanor Ngom (7-2, 236, Sr., 5.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.2 apg)
Numbers Of Note
4 Games this season where freshman power forward John Butler has reached double figures.
7: Players FSU has brought in from North Carolina since 2010 — Terry Whisnant (Cherryville), Ian Miller (Charlotte), Montay Brandon (High Point), Patrick Williams (Charlotte), Caleb Mills (Arden), Quincy Ballard (Winston-Salem) and 2022 signee De'Ante Green (Asheville).
11 Years FSU coach Leonard Hamilton has gotten teams into the NCAA Tournament — three at Miami (Fla.) and eight with Seminoles.
Game Within The Game: FSU's John Butler vs. NC State’s Jericole Hellems
Freshman post player John Butler is coming off one of his best games of the season.
The skinny 7-1, 190-pounder drained 4 of 5 three-pointers in the 74-70 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday. He finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
Butler is averaging 5.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 18.4 minutes per game this season. He had previously topped double figures in ACC action when he had 14 points on 3 of 4 shooting in a 79-78 overtime win vs. Duke on Jan. 18. Butler also had nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks in a 94-74 loss at North Carolina on Feb. 12.
Butler was ranked No. 80 overall in the class of 2021 by Rivals.com coming out of Greenville (S.C.) Christ Church. He chose the Seminoles over Alabama, Georgia Tech, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Butler's younger brother, is a 6-10, 195-pound center in the class of 2023 at Christ Church. He has offers from Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.
NC State senior power forward Jericole Hellems will be giving up several inches at 6-7 and 210 pounds. He is averaging 13.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, but shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 38.2 percent on three-pointers.
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