On Saturday, the FSU men’s basketball team lost by 44 points at home to NC State.
On Sunday, the Seminoles ran 44 down and backs — a trip from one end of the 94-foot college court to the other.
“We started out practice with running 44 down and backs, just for the amount of points we lost by,” FSU coach Luke Loucks said. “To go into a game at home and lose by the most amount of points in the history of Florida State basketball at home is unacceptable. And you got to pay the bank.
“From there we had an entire practice of defense. We didn’t touch a ball offensively (Sunday), and that's going to continue today (Monday).”
Loucks was asked about FSU’s struggles in closing out on NC State’s 3-point shots in Saturday’s 113-69 loss. The Wolfpack often had open looks and made an astounding 19 3-pointers. Loucks remarked postgame on Saturday that the Seminoles did not “close to touch” the 3-point shooter and get a hand in the face or make NC State feel the defenders.
“It was worse than I thought it was,” Loucks said. “In real time, it looked like our close outs were poor. And the film confirmed that and then some.”
FSU returns to the court on Tuesday to play Syracuse. Below are some notes and stats.
FSU (7-9, 0-3 ACC) at Syracuse (11-5, 2-1)
Time: Tuesday at 9 p.m.
TV: ACC Network.
KenPom rankings: FSU is 113, Syracuse is 60.
Coaches: Loucks is 7-9 at FSU, his alma mater. He is 0-3 in ACC play but has faced a trio of top-35 teams to start league play (UNC, Duke and NC State). Adrian Autry is 45-36 in his third season at Syracuse. He was an assistant at Syracuse from 2011-23. Autry was a McDonald’s All-American point guard in 1990 and played at Syracuse.
Streaks: FSU has lost three straight games. The Seminoles have now faced an amazing seven KenPom top-50 teams (Florida, Texas A&M, Georgia, Houston, UNC, Duke and NC State). Syracuse has won two straight, picking up road wins at Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh.
Notable wins / losses: Syracuse picked up a home win over KenPom No. 19 Tennessee on Dec. 2. While the Orange have a pair of ACC road wins, they missed chances against some heavyweights on a neutral court in November (losses to Houston, Kansas and Iowa State). FSU has the narrow losses to Florida and Duke but most of the others have been lopsided.
Of note: Thomas Bassong had a season-high 14 points in 20 minutes in Saturday’s loss to NC State. Loucks said the freshman forward would likely see more minutes moving forward. … Kiyan Anthony, Carmelo’s son, has scored in double figures in eight games for Syracuse. Anthony is 6-8 and 185 pounds. … Syracuse shoots 54.8 percent from inside the arc (90th in DI basketball), but the Orange struggle at 62.9 percent from the free-throw line (358th).
FSU stats: Robert McCray V leads FSU in scoring (13.7) and assists (6.6). Chauncey Wiggins averages 12.3 points. … Kobe MaGee has scored 39 points (13.0 average) in his last three games, shooting 10 of 22 (45 percent) from beyond the arc vs. the ACC. … FSU is 2-3 against Syracuse in the last five games, including a Jan. 4, 2025 victory in Tallahassee.
Syracuse stats: Donnie Freeman (19.7 points) leads Syracuse in scoring and he averages 6.3 rebounds. The 6-9, 205-pound Freeman is coming off a game in which he had 27 points and nine rebounds at Georgia Tech. JJ Starling (11.1 points), Naithan George (10.4 points) and Nate Kingz (9.6 points) lead Syracuse. Starling is 6-4 and 206, George is 6-3 and 185 pounds, and Kingz is 6-5 and 190 pounds.
