Florida State leans on defense vs. Stanford as 3-point woes linger
Luke Loucks' first season as Florida State head coach hasn't gone according to plan.
What was expected to be a high-powered, 3-point-focused offense instead ranks 17th out of 18 Atlantic Coast Conference teams in 3-point percentage (31.2%).
That has forced the Seminoles to adopt a new defensive identity, which they bring into Saturday's game against Stanford in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida State (9-12, 2-6 ACC) allowed 78-plus points in each of its first eight games against major-conference opponents this season. Since then, it has allowed less than 70 points in three of four, including a season low against a major-conference opponent in Wednesday's 63-61 home win over Cal.
"If you would have told me after the preseason that we would win a game 63-61, that we would shoot 1-for-8 in the second half from 3 and miss 10 free throws, and win the game, I would have called you a liar," Loucks said. "But here we are. Honestly, it's a good message and good reminder for our guys that there are two sides of basketball."
That defense, which ranks 16th in the ACC in opponents' shooting percentage (45.1%), stepped up, with Cal missing its final six shots and shooting 34.5% from the floor.
Chauncey Wiggins tallied a team-high 18 on 7-of-9 shooting, including what amounted to the game-winner as the final made field goal of the game with 2:59 left.
It was the fourth straight Florida State game decided by three points or less.
The same cannot be said for Stanford (14-7, 3-5), which has lost three straight games by nine or more points since its 95-90 upset of then-No. 14 North Carolina on Jan. 14.
Most recently, the Cardinal lost 79-70 at Miami on Wednesday. Stanford led by nine points with 14:20 remaining before it was outscored 39-21 the rest of the way.
"We couldn't quite come up with enough key rebounds," Stanford coach Kyle Smith said. "(Miami) made some big plays. ... Their strength kind of wore us down."
Freshman star Ebuka Okorie experienced a return to form of sorts, scoring a team-high 19 points after going 1-for-16 from the floor against Cal and totaling 23 points in the two previous games.
His 21.5 points per game rank second in the ACC and are on pace to be the most by a Stanford player since Landry Fields (22.0) in 2009-10.