JEFF ALLEN GAME PREVIEW: FLORIDA STATE vs. VIRGINIA TECH
Power conference tournaments are now in full swing and we have an interesting matchup in the final second-round game
of the ACC tournament as No.11 seeded Florida State takes on the No.6 seeded Virginia Tech Hokies. Both teams are on
rolls with the (19-12, 8-10) Seminoles winning three straight after dispatching Boston College last night in their opening round
matchup. The (18-13, 10-8) Hokies closed the season on five straight wins including victories over Pitt and Miami to close the
regular season. Florida State opened as a -2.5 point favorite but has been bet up to -4 with the total down a full point to 147
1/2. Watch and win on the Deuce with a 9:30 PM EST tip.
This is edition of the Seminoles has shown much more offense than recent defense only editions. The team finished third in
the ACC in offense at better than 77 ppg and gets the majority of it’s scoring from the guard tandem of Dwayne Bacon (15.7. 5.8,
1.4) and Malik Beasely (15.6, 5.2, 1.7). Both kids are freshman so the future at FSU is bright, especially if these two can improve
their outside shooting. The first four leading scorers on the Sems are all guards and like to get up and down.
Buzz Williams has done an amazing job with the Hokies who are peaking at the right time. Zach LeDay leads VTech in scoring and
rebounding (15.2, 7.6) but the Gobblers are much more balanced and can really shoot the rock when they are on. LeDay, Justin
Bibbs (12.2, 3.3) and Jalen Hudson all shoot better than 37% from beyond the arc with Bibbs the sniper at 46.9%. All the Hokies
hit the glass so rebounding in not generally an issue with this team.
The teams met once during the regular season in Blacksburg where the Hokies (+3.5) stormed back from an eight-point halftime
deficit to win 83-73. In that game VT shot 11-19 from beyond the arc and averaged 1.24 points per possession. Tournament history
says that this is where Florida State hits the wall as the team is 2-6 SU and ATS in their L8 second round ACC tourney games. Both
teams have been playing great but Tech has really raised it’s game under Williams. Not sure why Florida State is getting the money
here but there is nothing to indicate that the result here will be any different than it was on February 20th. Lets wait and see if we can
get even more and then take Virginia Tech with the points and on the money line.