Florida State has taken the momentum of last year’s run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament to become a top 25 program this season.
The Seminoles, who are ranked No. 18 in the country, had a rocky 1-4 start in the ACC, including three-consecutive losses (vs. Duke on Jan. 12, at Pittsburgh on Jan. 14 and at Boston College on Jan. 20). FSU righted the ship and went on a eight-game winning streak, which got interrupted by a 77-59 loss at North Carolina last Saturday.
Florida State (22-6 overall, 10-5 ACC) hosts NC State (20-8, 8-7 ACC) at 12 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2.
What makes Florida State unique is that nine different players have led the Seminoles in scoring this season. Sophomore power forward Mfiondu Kabengele has done that 10 times to lead the way.
Season Overview
Florida State built a nice resume with non-conference wins over LSU (23-5), Purdue (21-7) and Florida (17-11). The lone loss was against Villanova (21-8). The Seminoles have a few marquee ACC wins, with the best wins at Syracuse, Louisville at home and a sweep of Clemson.
FSU uses a strength in numbers approach with a deep bench led by redshirt sophomore post player Mfiondu Kabengele. Senior forward Terance Mann has been rock steady and senior center Christ Koumadje has been humming along the last five games.
Rankings
In the newly established NET rankings done by the NCAA, through games of Feb. 27, Florida State is ranked No. 24 in the country. This will be a quad one game for NC State. KenPom.com has FSU at No. 17 and ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Seminoles at No. 18.
The Seminoles are ranked No. 19 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.
For comparison, NC State is 18th in BPI, 32nd in NET, 37th in Kenpom.com and 90th in RPI.
Shooting
FSU has seven different players who have made at least 16 three-pointers. Mann surprisingly leads the way in shooting 45.5 percent on three-pointers. He shot just 25.0 percent on three-pointers last year.
The Seminoles rank seventh in the ACC in both field-goal percentage (45.3) and three-point field-goal percentage (33.8). The one weakness in the starting lineup is junior point guard Trent Forrest who is a lowly 4 of 26 from beyond the arc.
Rebounding
FSU ranks fifth in the ACC at 37.6 rebounds per game, including fifth in the league in offensive rebounds (11.7). The aforementioned Mann leads the team at 6.4 rebounds per game at 6-7, and the 7-4 Koumadje is second at 5.7 boards in just 15.9 minutes per game. Mann is particularly gifted on the offensive boards with 73 on the season.
Defense
The Seminoles rank fourth in the ACC in points allowed per game (66.2) in 14 league games. FSU is fifth in the league with 4.5 blocks per game and ninth in steals per game (6.36) in ACC-only games.
FSU is fifth in the league in allowing 43.7 percent from the field and 10th in three-point field-goal percentage (35.3) in conference action.
Depth
The Seminoles often play 10-11 players and while that sometimes means a team doesn’t have an obvious starting five, that isn’t the case with this squad.
Kabengele actually leads FSU in scoring at 13.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and hasn’t started a game, and Albany grad transfer David Nichols has been a spark in the backcourt. The 6-1, 185-pounder is averaging 6.6 points a contest and shooting 35.2 percent on three-pointers.
Senior wing P.J. Savoy (17 starts), a former junior college transfer, and freshman Devin Vassell add punch on the wings and both can stroke. Vassell is shooting 43.9 percent from three-point land and had 13 points and made all three three-pointers in the win over Notre Dame. Redshirt freshmen Raiquan Gray, a power forward, and wing Anthony Polite round out the rotation.
Star Watch
Florida State needed some spring help in January 2016 and brought in a sleeper recruit for a visit. The unranked Kabengele has become a cornerstone player for the Seminoles. The 6-10, 250-pound nephew of former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo graduated from Corpus Christi High in the Toronto area in 2015, and then spent a year at Crown Point (Ind.) Bosco Institute, where his recruitment took off.
Kabengele picked Florida State over Georgia, Boston College, Kansas State and others, and redshirted in 2017. He solidified a spot in the Seminoles rotation last year and averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game.
Kabengele has taken on a much larger role this season and leads the team in scoring (13.1) and is third in rebounds (5.5) and second in blocks (1.3). He has a pair of double-doubles, including going for 24 points and 10 rebounds in an 80-78 loss vs. Duke on Jan. 12. He also had a season-high 26 points and nine rebounds in an 87-82 loss at Boston College.
The physical performer has fouled out of five games and has picked up four fouls in four other contests, despite playing more than 28 minutes just once this season.
Likely starters:
NC State
PG — 11 Markell Johnson (6-1, 175, Jr., 11.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg ,4.2 apg 1.0 spg)
SG — 13 C.J. Bryce (6-5, 195, R-Jr., 12.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.3 spg)
G — 10 Braxton Beverly (6-0, 180, Soph., 10.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.8 apg)
F — 2 Torin Dorn (6-5, 210, 5th-Sr., 13.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg ,1.3 apg 1.0 spg)
C — 33 Wyatt Walker (6-9, 240, R-Jr., 5.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.0 apg)
Florida State
PG — 3 Trent Forrest (6-4, 210, Jr., 9.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.0 spg)
SG — 23 M.J. Walker (6-5, 213, Soph., 7.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.8 apg)
SF — 14 Terance Mann (6-7, 215, Sr., 11.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.4 apg)
PF — 0 Phil Cofer (6-8, 230, R-Sr., 6.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.0 apg)
C — 21 Christ Koumadje (7-4, 268, Sr., 6.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.3 apg, 1.6 bpg)
Stats To Watch
70 points: In ACC games, Florida State is 1-4 when its opponents have scored at least 70 points, and it is 9-1 when holding teams to less than 70. The only team to score less than 70 and win was Virginia, which is more the comfortable in a low-scoring affair and won 65-52.
Three-point shooting: The Seminoles started the year shooting 31.3 on three-pointers and 6.9 three-pointers per game over the first 18 games. FSU has gone 86 of 227 for 37.9 percent over the last 10 games since Jan. 22, during which the Noles are 9-1.
Home court advantage: It remains to be seen how energetic a home game at 12 p.m. Saturday, but Florida State has won 44 of its 47 homes games, including 13-1 this season.
Game Within The Game: FSU's Christ Koumadje vs. NCSU's Wyatt Walker
NC State redshirt junior center Wyatt Walker likely has some friends and family making the trip Saturday from his hometown of Jacksonville, Fla. The Samford graduate transfer has never seen anything like FSU's Koumadje.
The 7-4, 268-pounder from N'djamena, Chad, has been on a mini-roll the last five games. He has combined to go 26 of 37 from the field (70.3 percent) for 58 points, 40 rebounds and 10 blocks. Included in that streak was a 20-point, 12-rebound effort in an 88-66 win over Wake Forest on Feb. 13, and he had 10 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in a 69-47 win at Georgia Tech on Feb. 16.
Koumadje went a perfect 6 of 6 for 12 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes of action last year against NC State in a 92-72 loss. He has gone 9 of 11 in his career against the Wolfpack.
The 6-9, 240-pound Walker heads into his homecoming game averaging 5.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game.
——
• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker
• Like us on Facebook
