Although it came against a winless opponent, Florida State isn’t downplaying what it meant to win only its second game this season — and to do it in comfortable fashion.
The Seminoles have a chance to string together a couple of victories for the first time this season when they host South Carolina Upstate on Tuesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
This game will mark the first of back-to-back nonconference games for Florida State before jumping back into Atlantic Coast Conference play on Dec. 21 against Notre Dame.
Despite the injuries and struggles that have contributed to one of its worst starts in decades, Florida State (2-9) still managed to dominate Louisville on its way to a 74-53 win this past Saturday.
Caleb Mills led the Seminoles with 16 points and Cameron Corhen had 15 as FSU beat Louisville for the sixth consecutive time.
“I thought we made some progress (Saturday),” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “Our effort was good for 40 minutes. We didn’t always play as well as I think we’re capable of. But I think our effort, our focus, our defensive effort, getting deflections and steals, I thought was at our best level.”
Florida State still has five more games to play before freshman Baba Miller can make his debut after serving a 16-game suspension over an impermissible travel benefit.
USC Upstate enters the game on a season-high three-game winning streak.
The Spartans (5-4) will face their third ACC opponent so far this season after losing games at Duke and Clemson.
Jordan Gainey continued to lead USC Upstate in scoring with 28 points to go along with five assists and five steals as the Spartans edged South Carolina State 89-84 in overtime on Saturday. Gainey is averaging 17.8 points and shooting 41.3 percent from 3-point range.
The Spartans got a boost from Mysta Goodloe, who played in his first game of the season. Goodloe finished with 20 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Goodloe made 11 of 12 free throws, which marked a season high for any Spartans player.
–Field Level Media