After a two-game road trip, Florida State men’s basketball (8-12, 1-6) returns home to take on Cal (15-5, 3-4) in the first-ever matchup between the two schools in Tallahassee.
FSU is coming off a heartbreaking defeat to SMU on Saturday, where the Noles battled back from a double-digit deficit in the second half to hold a one-point lead at the under-four timeout, but ultimately, did not have enough to close the game out. Since getting blown out by NC State on its home floor, Luke Loucks has the Seminoles playing inspired basketball, and Florida State has been in one-possession games in its last three contests.
A season ago, FSU headed west and had a disastrous road trip against Cal and Stanford, and Florida State will be hoping that the Golden Bears have the same issues taking the cross-country flight. Cal has lost both of their road ACC games so far this season, against Virginia and Virginia Tech, and is 1-3 away from home on the year.
Notes to know:
- While the Seminoles are improving on the court, moral victories will not buy FSU a bid into the ACC tournament. The conference changed its rules heading into the 2025-26 season, and only 15 of the top 18 schools will qualify, meaning the bottom three teams in the conference will not participate in postseason play. Currently, four teams in the ACC have 2-6 records, and Boston College is 2-5, with a home date against UVA this weekend. A win tonight would knot the Seminoles up with the other bottom feeders in the ACC, and a loss would set Loucks’ team a game back.
- As mentioned, tonight will be the first-ever matchup between Cal and FSU in Tallahassee, and the two schools have met only twice before. Last year was the second time, and Florida State fell, 77-68. The first meeting between the schools was in Las Vegas in the 2008-09 season, Loucks freshman campaign, and FSU’s head coach played 24 minutes in an 80-77 win.
Players to know:
- G Dai Dai Adams: Cal did an excellent job on the portal at identifying underused talent at P4 schools, and struck gold with Dai Dai Adams. Adams spent last season at Virginia, where he played 25 minutes per game, averaging 8 points, before blossoming in Berkeley. The junior guard leads the Golden Bears in scoring with 17.1 points per game on 48%/42%/85% splits from the floor.
- Justin Pippen: The son of NBA great Scottie Pippen, Justin has found his footing at Cal after playing sparingly as a freshman at Michigan. The 6’3” sophomore is second on the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game and has scored in double figures in each of Cal’s ACC games this season.
