Florida State’s Seminoles basketball team is on its first winning streak of the season as they look to keep their winning ways alive in a non-league matchup against the St. John’s Red Storm (10-1, 1-0 Big East) in this year’s AutoNation Orange Bowl Classic. part.
It was the first time the two teams met, with the Seminoles holding a 9-2 record in the Orange Bowl Classic.
FSU (3-9, 1-1 ACC) beat the USC Upstate Spartans 80-63, and the Seminoles struggled to shake off the inning at first, but it ended on the right track:
After clearly improving its basketball in three straight games, Florida State was even more sloppy against the pesky USC Upstate Spartans.
But in a game that would have been demoralizing four weeks ago, the Seminoles still found a way to walk away with a double-digit win. Perhaps most importantly, it’s indicative of the slow but steady progress this team is making.
Florida State was strong and never got the lead back below single digits. In fact, FSU ended the game with a series of delightful dunks, including a thunderous Tomahawk dunk from Cleveland.
St, John’s came into the game with its only loss to the previously ranked Iowa State Cyclones.
From Team Sports Information:
St. John’s is 10-1 going into its final nonconference matchup against Florida State, tying the program’s second-best start in 11 games over the past 30 years.
Joel Soriano was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 15.0 points and 14.5 rebounds in a win over BIG EAST rivals DePaul and New Hampshire. Johnnies’ big men lead the nation with nine double-doubles and 8.7 defensive rebounds per game.
As of Thursday, the Red Storm ranked fourth in the Division A with 43.2 rebounds per game, 14th in fast-break points per game with 17.45 and 32nd in steals with 9.4 per game.
With Saturday’s win, St. John’s will finish the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 10-1 record. That would mark the program’s best off-field record since 12-1 (.923) in 2018-19. It also marked the sixth time since 12-0 in 1982-83 that the Johnnies have finished non-league with just one loss (1984-85, 1986-87, 1990-91, 1994-95, 2018- 19).
Saturday’s game against Florida State kicks off two Red Storm games away from home. St. John’s will return to play in the BIG EAST on Wednesday at Villanova.
According to DraftKings, Florida is 6.5 points below the Red Storm and 155.5 points over/under.
FSU vs. St. John’s will start at 2:30 pm at Sunrise’s FLA Live Arena and will be televised on Bally Sports.
Fun fact: Florida State University will be wearing its N7 Nike uniforms, which were designed and produced to honor Native Americans and raise awareness for helping provide Native American and Indigenous youth with athletic opportunities. It was FSU’s 23rd uniform — the team is 6-1 in the Orange Bowl Classic and 18-4 when swinging them.
How to watch Florida vs. St. John’s, TV info
date
Saturday 17 December
time
2:30 pm
television
Bailey Sports
stream
Bailey Sports
listen
Seminole Broadcasting Network
