On Saturday at 4:00 PM PT on ACC Network, Stanford men’s basketball will welcome Florida State to The Farm. Stanford comes in at 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the ACC while Florida State comes in at 13-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC.
Last time out: On Wednesday, Stanford defeated Miami 88-51. Stanford center Maxime Raynaud led the way for the Cardinal with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks.
RECAP: Stanford MBB breezes past Miami
On Florida State: The Seminoles are having a decent season, right in the mix with Stanford. In league play they have wins over Syracuse, Miami, Pittsburgh, and Georgia Tech. Their four losses in league play are to NC State, Louisville, Clemson, and Cal. They’ve been a bit up and down, but are still a solid team.
The Seminoles are led by a redshirt senior guard Jamir Watkins, who is averaging 18.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 43.1% shooting from the field, 34.0% shooting from 3-point range, and 75.8% shooting from the foul line. The other player scoring in double figures on average for the Seminoles is junior forward Malique Ewin, who is averaging 14.3 points and 8.2 rebounds. A couple other players are also knocking on the door in sophomore forward Taylor Bol Bowen (8.9 points & 5.2 rebounds) and freshman guard Daquan Davis (8.8 points & 2.4 rebounds).
As a team, the Seminoles average 78.2 points per game on 46.8% shooting from the field, 32.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.7% shooting from the foul line. They average 35.3 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 8.6 steals, 5.5 blocks, and 12.4 turnovers per game. They also average a +0.5 rebound margin and a +2.5 turnover margin. Their opponents average 70.5 points per game on 40.3% shooting from the field, 30.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 72.8% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is keep feeding the big man. Maxime Raynaud is having one of the top individual seasons in Stanford men’s basketball history averaging 21.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. If he at least has a game on par with his averages, Stanford should be in a good position to win and then if he can exceed those averages, they should be fine.
Secondly, Stanford needs to contain Watkins. What got Stanford in trouble in their road loss to Wake Forest was allowing Hunter Sallis to go off for 30 points. If Stanford can keep Watkins to his scoring average or below, they’ll be in a good position to win this game. If he exceeds his average, Stanford could be in trouble.
Finally, Stanford needs to control the glass. In their 77-68 win over Florida State on Wednesday, Cal had a +5 rebounding advantage over Florida State. If Stanford has a similar type of edge on the glass, they’ll be in prime position to win this game.
Prediction: I think Stanford wins this one by a final score of 80-72. Florida State is a good enough team that they could make this interesting and possibly steal the game. That said, Stanford on paper is the better team and aside from their disastrous loss to Cal Poly, they’ve not lost at home all season. They’ve become really difficult to beat at Maples and I expect that trend to continue today.
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