Florida State men’s basketball (11-12, 4-6) looks for its first win over a ranked opponent this season as the ‘Noles take on No. 15 Virginia (20-3, 8-2) at home on Tuesday.
First-year head coach Luke Loucks and his team are riding high heading into tonight’s pivotal matchup, as FSU is the winner of three in a row and four of its last five. The Seminoles secured a road victory over Notre Dame last Saturday and swept the two in-conference California teams, Stanford and Cal, in the two games prior.
Looking to capitalize on the positive momentum, the Florida State basketball program is pulling out all the stops to create a hostile environment for the ‘Hoos. Loucks announced on Monday that he is covering the first 500 beers for students (who must show a valid ID and an FSU ID) and offering discounted concessions throughout the Tuck. The rookie head coach vowed when he first got the job that he would get as creative as possible to drum up support for his program and put butts in seats.
FSU will need all the help it can get tonight as the Seminoles are 7.5-point home underdogs, according to FanDuel.
Florida State Seminoles vs. Virginia Cavaliers: How to watch, stream, odds
Date
- Tuesday, February 10th
Time
- 7 p.m. ET
Watch/Stream
- Channel: ESPNU
- Stream: WatchESPN/ESPN App
Listen
- Seminoles Radio Network
- FSU Broadcast: Ch. 371/SXM App
Spread
- +7.5, Florida State
Over/Under
Notes to know:
- First-year head coach Ryan Odom has done an excellent job in his first 23 games. Odom, with incredible administrative support, completely changed the program’s style of play from that under Tony Bennett and Ron Sanchez in just one year. The Cavaliers are 35th in the country in three-pointers made per game with 10.1 and 56th in scoring offense with 82.8 points per night.
- The biggest issue the Seminoles will face tonight is slowing down UVA on the glass. Virginia ranks eighth in the country in offensive rebounds with 14.3 per game and is tied for 39th in D1 with 27 defensive rebounds per night, leading to a 15th-place ranking in the country in rebound margin. What makes UVA such a good rebounding team is not that the Cavaliers don’t have one guy that gobbles up all the boards, but that all five players in its starting lineup average over 3.5 rebounds per game and crash the glass as one.
Players to know:
- F Thijs De Ridder: One way that Odom brought talent to Charlottesville is by going overseas and taking advantage of new NCAA eligibility rules. Thijs De Ridder is a 23-year-old freshman who played professionally in Belgium before coming to Virginia. The 6’9” forward leads UVA in points per game (16.4), rebounds (6.5) and minutes (27). De Ridder has scored in double figures in five of his last six games, but does most of his damage from inside the arc.
- G Malik Thomas: Thomas, a graduate transfer, spent his previous two seasons at the University of San Francisco, where he earned first-team All-WCC honors last year. In his first season with the ‘Hoos, Thomas is second on the team in scoring with 12.6 points a night while starting every game this season. The 6’5” guard can do more than just score, however, and averages 4.0 rebounds and almost two assists per night.