Game 34 Florida State Seminoles @ the ARC in 37 hrs 45 minutes

[covufan]

This will be an evenly matched game - hopefully homercourt advantage will help!

Valpo   78
FSU      73

[valpo84]

They're probably not used to playing in smaller gyms with fans on top of them, except that dilapidated gym in Durham ....

[VULB#62]

Two things we can't afford to do that is kind of a trademark of this team over the course of the season:  Starting slow and, when holding a lead with 4 or so minutes in the game, taking the foot off the pedal and going into a shell.

[FWalum]

Intangibles will play a HUGE roll in this game.  We need to be able to play with the same confidence we showed when playing Oregon and Oregon State.  They will not be intimidated nor will they have anything to lose. I am afraid that they will play loose and we, who have a lot to prove and expectations to live up to, will play tight. We can hope that they look down on VU, our Mid-Major conference and "high school" gym, not expecting us to play at their level (or hopefully above) and maybe we catch them off guard.  Need a big game from our unintimidated LSU transfer Hammink.

[talksalot]

They're probably not used to playing in smaller gyms with fans on top of them

They played 3 games in the VI "Sports and Fitness Center"... with a capacity of 3,500  but "cavernous" would describe the rest of the gyms....

Their game with VCU played in Atlanta only drew 1,786

[agibson]

In conclusion, it's a great thing we were able to get the game being played on Thursday at the ARC instead of traveling to the Donald L. Tucker Center.

Very interesting. It'll be fascinating to see if we can play like the home team, and if FSU really does struggle on the road. Or if, perhaps, they play like a "power conference" team and we play like a "non-power conference" team. And to see how much Tevonn plays, and how much we miss him.

They look like one of the tallest teams we've played this year (one of the few taller than us, if any others have been?). But don't seem to rebound especially well. Not sure if Ken Pom's rebound numbers there are raw, or adjusted for quality of opposition, etc.

Also one of the younger teams we've played this year. But Adam Amin claimed they had two of the best freshmen in college basketball.

[agibson]

It's probably not going to help attendance that we tip off opposite specifically Indiana, and only shortly after Purdue conclude. And both in 12-5 games.

But, the ACC coming to the ARC! How can you miss it?

Should be a great crowd. Come one, come all!

[agibson]

A couple of so-so pieces on the game from the FSU practice.

http://chopchat.com/2016/03/15/nit-tournament-noles-face-valparaiso-in-second-round/
https://chopchat.com/2016/03/16/nit-tournament-3-things-valparaiso-does-well/
and a bit in
http://chopchat.com/2016/03/14/fsu-basketball-path-to-2016-nit-quarterfinals/
including

It will not be an easy road if the chalk prevails. However, FSU basketball plays in arguably the best conference in the nation and is battle tested. The key to FSU winning will be the same as always:

Make Free Throws
Don't Turn The Ball Over
Crash The Boards
Play Defense With Passion

The 'Noles have talent on offense and can score points. If they can consistently do the four things mentioned, there's no reason why they can't make the quarterfinals of the NIT.

[wh]

My daughter was at the ticket windows exactly at 9:00 this morning to purchase our tickets. She said there was a line 10 deep, a steady flow of people coming in as others were leaving, and the phones were ringing off the hook. She was expressing frustration because she was running late for work, while I was on the other end of the phone smiling and thinking there's a much bigger story here. lol

[agibson]

Things seem to be selling well, much more briskly than for Texas Southern.

It'll change when they release season tickets, but at the moment chairbacks G, H, and I have nothing available. Only singles in B and C downstairs bleachers, and upstairs CC is off to a good start.

[oklahomamick]

Totally over doing it but it would be awesome if they brought bleachers to put behind the north basket as they did during the HL championship games and we will able to feel it up.  Imagine the same environment as last years championship game. 

[vu72]

Things seem to be selling well, much more briskly than for Texas Southern.

It'll change when they release season tickets, but at the moment chairbacks G, H, and I have nothing available. Only singles in B and C downstairs bleachers, and upstairs CC is off to a good start.

Now a total of 20 seats available in chairbacks and 106 in the lower bleachers, 66 of which are in A. Upstairs nothing really gone other than in CC.

[agibson]

Steady trickle again at the ARC this afternoon, about like Monday.

One couple asked for tickets to the middle school tournament!

[valpotx]

I hope that it is a packed house.  We packed the house for the women's team WNIT quarterfinal game many years ago against Houston.  People will come out if we can continue to win in this tournament (at least for another game).

[VUOR63]

So, Florida State has to come to the ARC on short rest?  Valpo is certainly at an advantage here and I hope Valpo's men can teach the Florida State boys a thing or two tomorrow night.  I'll be watching this game and not the NCAA tourney.

Go Crusaders!

[ValpoHoops]

Line opens at Valpo -4

[bmlvu97]

Looking forward to a good evening and a hell of a game...bought my ticket and will be driving in for the game...

Valpo 73
FSU 71

Brian

[VULB#62]

We always remember the "Shot" but not so much the game that got Valpo to the Sweet 16 in 1998.

(FROM GAME NOTES) Thursday marks just the second meeting in program history between Valparaiso and Florida State, but the only other matchup was a special one in Crusader lore, as Valpo downed the Seminoles in overtime, 83-77, to advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Bill Jenkins split a pair of free throws with 30.5 seconds to play to send the game to overtime, where the Crusaders out-scored FSU, 8-2. Bryce Drew led four Valpo players in double figures with 22 points, while Kerry Thompson and Randell Jackson paced the Seminoles with 16 points each.

No OT this time, OK?

[vu72]

Any TV broadcast info for Thursday night's game?

ESPN News. (Is the distribution about like ESPNU?)

We seem to be getting little respect from ESPN.  We are a 1 seed and so far we have been on ESPN3 and ESPN News? 

[crusaderjoe]

IIRC, we wore our home white uniforms against FSU in '98 even though we were the lower seed.  I assume we'll wear the home whites tonight too.  Should be a good omen.

[agibson]

We seem to be getting little respect from ESPN.  We are a 1 seed and so far we have been on ESPN3 and ESPN News? 

I don't know about ESPN3, or why we had the late tip. But, I'm guessing that ESPN News (and even the early tip?) has something do with the Thursday game. I might imagine that ESPN had some times blocked out for second round games. I doubt any of those were on Thursday. I'm often frustrated by scheduling decisions, relegating events I care about to tertiary networks and showing bass fishing, or monster truck reruns, or some such on the primary and secondary networks. But, this time, maybe it was part of the package that let us keep a home game.  *shrug*

I do feel bad for those that might get caught without access. I've not tried ESPN News, but streaming access for ESPNU programs is generally blacked out unless your TV package includes ESPNU.

For the cogniscenti and the passionate there's always Todd on streaming radio.

For anyone within driving distance, I'll see you at the ARC!

[FWalum]

For anyone within driving distance, I'll see you at the ARC!

Yes you will!  Since I had planned my trip to the LBAA National Tournament, this game has become an unexpected added bonus. 

[fsu1mikeg]

FSU fan and '94 grad here.  I was there during the Charlie Ward/Sam Cassell/Bob Sura/Doug Edwards/Rodney Dobard years.  This team will NOT remind you of those teams.  We have two very talented freshmen who lead us in scoring.  Dwayne Bacon was a McDonald's AA and Malik Beasley was not far behind.  We have good size, but are not a physical team.  Boris Bojanovsky is 7'3" and 248 lbs.  He can block shots, but is weak physically and can be bullied in the paint.  Jarquez Smith is a 6'9" 4 who plays center out of necessity.  He is very athletic, but also on the finesse side.  He comes in to spell Boris after the first couple of minutes or when Boris picks up a quick foul.  Jarquez has come on a bit lately, but is not really a guy you have to plan for.  Our two most physical bigs missed all or most of the year, so it's been a bit of patchwork in the frontcourt.  Senior Montay Brandon starts at the four, but he's really a big guard.  He actually started his FSU career at point guard.  He's played all over and is a solid rotation guy, but doesn't score and has trouble finishing near the rim.  He'll likely play 20 minutes and accumulate almost nothing in the stat sheet.  Terrance Mann is another talented freshmen who has been playing more as the season's gone on.  He's a big guard, but also plays the four out of necessity at times.  He's an energy guy.  Our point guard is Xavier Rathan-Mayes.  He's a converted two who is capable of putting up big scoring nights, but has been disappointing this year.  Last year he made a name for himself by scoring 30 points in five minutes against UNC in a game we lost in OT.  He also had a crazy scoring binge in another loss.  Expect ESPN commentators to reference this, as he's been living off that since.  Senior guard Devon Bookert has been the heart and soul of the team this year.  He's not big or a great athlete, but he's a deadly set shooter and can light it up from deep.  He's also a good hustle guy and will jump passing lanes for steals.  So we've got a couple of NBA caliber athletes (Bacon and Beasley) and some decent role players.  Coach Leonard Hamilton is known as a great defensive coach, but defense has been our Achilles Heel this year.  When we defend with energy, we can beat anyone.  But we've had games where teams can drive on us at will for layups and we're slow to rotate on the perimeter, leaving guys wide open for easy threes.  Offensively, we want to run at every opportunity.  Bacon and Beasley are deadly in transition.  We struggle in the half court, and especially against zone defenses.  I think that about covers it.  I'm hoping for an upset, but I think you guys will win this one at home and end our season.  Here's to a good, clean, exciting game.

Mike

[VULB#62]

For anyone within driving distance, I'll see you at the ARC!

Yes you will!  Since I had planned my trip to the LBAA National Tournament, this game has become an unexpected added bonus. 

Ya gonna skip the opening convocation?

[VULB#62]

We seem to be getting little respect from ESPN.  We are a 1 seed and so far we have been on ESPN3 and ESPN News? 

I don't know about ESPN3, or why we had the late tip. But, I'm guessing that ESPN News (and even the early tip?) has something do with the Thursday game. I might imagine that ESPN had some times blocked out for second round games. I doubt any of those were on Thursday. I'm often frustrated by scheduling decisions, relegating events I care about to tertiary networks and showing bass fishing, or monster truck reruns, or some such on the primary and secondary networks. But, this time, maybe it was part of the package that let us keep a home game.  *shrug*

I do feel bad for those that might get caught without access. I've not tried ESPN News, but streaming access for ESPNU programs is generally blacked out unless your TV package includes ESPNU.

For the cogniscenti and the passionate there's always Todd on streaming radio.

For anyone within driving distance, I'll see you at the ARC!

ESPN-wise, it appears that we are the only MBB game on their network of options. ESPN3 is carrying WNIT and WBI WBB games.  NCAA is basically all over TBS and CBS.