MEN’S HOOPS — No. 7 Florida State Vs. Notre Dame Preview
No. 7 FLORIDA STATE (24-5, 14-4 ACC) vs. NOTRE DAME (18-11, 9-9 ACC)
Where: Purcell Pavilion (9,149), South Bend, Ind.
Time/TV/Internet: Tonight (9 p.m., EST); Available on ESPN2, UND.com, Sirius/XM Radio Channel 989
Line: Florida State -2.5 (147 over/under)
Prediction: Florida State 76, Notre Dame 70
Series Facts: Less than a week ago, tonight’s game against seventh-ranked Florida State was being billed as the most important of this season for Notre Dame, in terms of taking a major step toward an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, until a loss Saturday at Wake Forest sapped most anticipation out of tonight’s matchup.
Instead, tonight’s game essentially serves as nothing more than a momentum-building opportunity for Notre Dame before the ACC Tournament begins next week.
This is a rematch from Jan. 25 in Tallahassee, Fla., when the Irish played well and hung in against then-No. 5 Florida State, until some questionable officiating in the closing minutes contributed to an 85-84 Notre Dame loss.
The defeat dropped Notre Dame to 2-6, the low-water mark of this ACC season, but the close defeat seemed to spark the Irish, who immediately responded with three straight wins and seven victories in nine games.
A relatively new series between two schools that features 10 games and dates back only to 2011 when Florida State bounced Notre Dame 71-57 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, both teams have won five times.
The Irish are 3-0 all time against Florida State at Purcell Pavilion, including an 84-69 victory in February 2018, the last time these two teams met in South Bend.
NOTRE DAME OVERVIEW
The first game in this home-and-home series isn’t best remembered for what happened during the game in the one-point Irish loss, but more for what happened in the post-game press conference.
Irish head coach Mike Brey took issue with a series of late officiating calls that worked against Notre Dame in the closing minutes.
Brey publicly called out a veteran ACC official and moved into a tirade about how Notre Dame football independence negatively impacts his program in terms of officiating, criticism that brought a reprimand and a $20,000 fine from the league.
“We’re treated by the officials like we haven’t brought football as a full member, yet we get a full share of the ACC Network TV, are you kidding me?” Brey said, referencing the grudge some theorize that ACC members hold against Notre Dame for keeping its football independence while playing its other sports in the league.
At 7-3, Notre Dame remains one of the hottest teams in the ACC since Brey’s fiery post-game message five weeks ago.
FLORIDA STATE OVERVIEW
Like Notre Dame at Wake Forest last weekend, Florida State also suffered a disappointing road loss Saturday, one that knocked it out of first place in the ACC.
A 70-69 defeat at Clemson dropped FSU (14-4) one-half game behind Louisville (15-4) as FSU chases down its first-ever regular-season ACC title.
That said, no tears need shed for the Seminoles. Even with the loss, Florida State only dropped one spot in the AP Poll to No. 7 and still stands ready to secure a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the same line it was projected on before the Clemson loss.
GAME OUTLOOK
Earlier this week, Brey celebrated the work, attitude, gumption and commitment that his team showed when going from 2-6 in league play in late January to 9-8 in early March until Wake Forest dropped the Irish back to 9-9.
The ability Notre Dame demonstrated to fight through tough times — especially after a 3-15 ACC record in 2018-19 — is notable.
But considering Notre Dame has lost five league games by three points or fewer and three by one point this season, if the Irish could’ve flipped just one of those losses into a win, tonight’s game would be much more important.
Instead, the primary motivation tonight for Brey and his Irish is to break a 20-game losing streak against ranked teams — a streak that dates back to Nov. 30, 2017, when Notre Dame beat No. 6 Wichita State in the Maui Invitational Championship game.
Meanwhile, FSU hopes to stay in the race for an ACC title and protect its projected No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed.
QUICK HITS:
*When Rex Pflueger takes the floor tonight, the Irish senior captain will tie former Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton for the most games played in program history at 139.
*At 56-percent shooting this season (.559), senior Irish forward Juwan Durham ranks third all-time in single-season Irish field-goal percentage behind Zach Auguste (.570 in 2014-15) and Martinas Geben (.568 in 2017-18).
*Notre Dame has played in a program-record six one-point games this season, going 3-3.
QUOTEABLE:
“It would be great. They’ve really done some neat stuff to get us in this position from 2-6. It would be another step for them to kind of feel good about themselves and feel like you’re getting better and more confident in March.” — Brey on what could be gained from a win tonight.
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