FSU vs. Syracuse: Game thread, how to watch, notes, odds

Feb 8, 2023 - 10:00 PM

The Florida State Seminoles will spend the week at the Tucker Center, preparing for two conference matchups at home. Their first opponent, the Syracuse Orange is fresh off a road win at Boston College. The Orange are at the midlevel of the ACC, ranked as the No. 8 team with a 14-10 overall record.

FSU has been extremely streak in the past month, winning back-to-back games on the road, then added three straight losses just before their narrow victory against Louisville. While many teams across the league are finally hitting that marker where they mesh and create comfortable lineups, the Seminoles are still searching for their identity.

Head coach Leonard Hamilton and his staff have led the Noles to an 8-16 record, listed as the No. 10 team in the ACC. There are now seven games left on the regular season schedule, including five teams with a higher seed than Florida State.

Syracuse is led by senior guard Joseph Girard III, who the Seminoles should be very familiar with. Girard is averaging 16.6 points and 3.3 assists in 34 minutes for the Orange. The Noles will also have to deal with a freshman who has a knack for scoring, Judah Mintz, and a center who’s had success in Tallahassee, Jesse Edwards.

According to DraftKings, the Seminoles are 3.5-point home underdogs, with the over/under placed at 149.5.

Here’s a look at the game notes from FSU’s sports information department:

SEMINOLES BACK AT THE TUCK FOR HOME GAME AGAINST SYRACUSE

Florida State, which has won four of its last six games against Syracuse, plays host to the Orange on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The Seminoles’ game against the Orange is the only regular season game between the two teams. Florida State and Syracuse split the regular season series between the two teams during the 2021-22 season, with each team winning on the other team’s home court. The Seminoles hold a winning advantage in the series by a 3-2 margin in games played at the Donald L. Tucker Center, with each of the five games being played since the Orange joined the ACC for the 2013-14 season. Following Wednesday’s game against Syracuse, the Seminoles play host to Pittsburgh on Saturday, February 11 in a game set to tip-off at 12 Noon. The Seminoles have earned two-game season sweeps against both Notre Dame and Louisville, and defeated the Panthers in Pittsburgh in the first meeting between the two teams (71-64) on January 21.

SEMINOLES TOP LOUISVILLE; GAIN SECOND TWO-GAME SWEEP OF 2022-23 SEASON

Florida State defeated Louisville, 81-78, on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center to gain the two-game regular season sweep of the Cardinals. The Seminoles also defeated the Cardinals, 73-55, at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee on December 21, 2022. Florida State also gained the two-game season sweep of Notre Dame, as it won in both Tallahassee on December 21 by a 73-72 margin and in Notre Dame on January 17 by an 84-71 score.

HAMILTON ON NAISMITH HALL OF FAME BALLOT

Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton, the fifth all-time winningest coach in ACC history, is on the 2023 ballot for enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

All-Time Winningest Coaches in ACC History

Rank Coach, School Years Wins

1. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 1981-2022 1,129

2. Dean Smith, North Carolina 1962-1997 879

3. Roy Williams, North Carolina 2004-2021 485

4. Gary Williams, Maryland 1990-2011 461

5. Leonard Hamilton, Florida State 2003-Present 403

CLEVELAND’S DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING STREAK REACHES 16 GAMES; SECOND LONGEST IN ACC

All-ACC candidate Matthew Cleveland scored 15 points against Louisville on Saturday, and enters Wednesday’s game against Syracuse having scored in double figures in a career-best 17 consecutive games. He is averaging 15.6 points scored per game since totaling 17 points against Nebraska on November 27 in the final game of the 2022 ESPN Events Invitational. Cleveland’s current double-figure is currently the second longest double-figure scoring streak among all ACC Players. His double-figure scoring streak is the longest by a Seminole since Dwayne Bacon scored in double figures in the first 26 games of the 2016-17 season.

CLEVELAND NAMED TO JULIUS ERVING AWARD WATCH LIST

Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland is in the Julius Erving Watch List as the nation’s top collegiate small forward by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. It marks the second consecutive season Cleveland has been named to the initial watch list for the prestigious Julius Erving Award.