With just a week left in the regular season, Florida State and Georgia Tech will try to salvage up-and-down seasons when they meet in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday in Atlanta.
Florida State (15-13, 9-8) took down NC State 90-83 at home Tuesday, thanks to a 59.7 percent shooting clip from the field — the best in conference play this season for the Seminoles.
“This was a typical ACC contest where it was one of those competitive games that could have gone either way,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “As we wind down the season, you have very little room for error. Everybody’s playing for a spot in the ACC tournament.”
Hoping to lead the Seminoles to a run in the ACC tourney is Jamir Watkins, Florida State’s leader in scoring (15.1) and rebounding (5.8).
Watkins extended his double-figure scoring streak to 14 games Tuesday, when he tallied a team-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.
“(Jamir) is being the best version of himself,” Hamilton said. “What makes his consistency so impressive is in the opponents’ game plan and scouting report, he’s the target. Their whole week of practice is concentrated on him and he still goes out and gives us a chance to win.”
Following Watkins’ scoring lead are Darin Green Jr. (11.3) and Primo Spears (10.6).
A win for the Seminoles on Saturday would mean back-to-back wins for the first time since a five-game streak from Jan. 3-17.
Standing in their way is a Georgia Tech team that has enjoyed a week off following its 80-76 victory at Miami last weekend.
The Yellow Jackets (12-16, 5-12) finished with 22 assists in the win, an area of importance stressed by first-year coach Damon Stoudamire.
“We passed the ball. I thought we did a great job of helping one another,” Stoudamire said. “For some reason we get to a point sometimes where we don’t pass to each other and we’re not a very good team offensively when that happens.”
Miles Kelly’s 25 points paced Georgia Tech, adding to his team leading 14.8 points per game. Baye Ndongo follows with 11.7 points per game and a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media