FSU Looks to Bounce Back Against Texas A&M-CC

Florida State takes the court Friday night, welcoming Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center as the Seminoles look to bounce back after suffering their first loss of the season to No. 1 Florida Tuesday.

The Islanders enter the matchup in Tallahassee with a 2-1 record. After dropping their season opener to Texas State, they have won two straight and will look to pull off the upset while extending their winning streak.

The game is scheduled to tip off at 5 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra. While it may not be the ideal platform to watch, it should provide a good start to Friday night for Seminoles fans, with the Florida State football team set to take the field at 7 p.m. ET on the road against Pitt.

The Seminoles are coming off a hard-fought loss in which they gave Florida a challenge but ultimately fell short. The game featured eight lead changes, all in the first half. Florida State pulled within one point but couldn't regain the lead, falling 81-72 to drop to 2-1.

It was a game Luke Loucks' Seminoles could have won despite scoring just six points off the bench and shooting 19% from beyond the arc. Florida State also attempted 23 fewer free throws than Florida, which went 30-for-41 from the charity stripe compared to the Seminoles' 14-for-18.

Despite the loss and a less-than-ideal shooting performance as a team, the Seminoles found a way to stay close and battle the Gators until the end. That should give Florida State confidence heading into its matchup with AMCC.

"With how many mistakes we made, and we still only lost by single digits to the No. 1 team in the country," Loucks said.

Despite the loss, Loucks believes his team should take confidence from its performance against the Gators, especially considering the mistakes Florida State made throughout the game.

“I think we could’ve won that game,” Loucks said. “We should have a ton of confidence in what we’re building”

TAM-CC enters the game ranked 242nd in Division I in scoring, averaging 74.7 points per game. The Islanders are led by guard Demond Kent Jr., who averages 10.3 points per game, followed by guard Daniel Michelini-Jackson and center Lamin Foon, who are each averaging 10 points per game.

The Seminoles enter the matchup ranked 50th in Division I in scoring, averaging 92 points per game. Florida State is led by Sebastian Rancik, who averages 22 points per game and is coming off a team-high 23-point performance against Florida.

Rancik has already shown that the roughly 37-hour journey by planes, trains, and automobiles to secure his commitment was worth the effort. The transfer forward has made an immediate impact since arriving after a conversation with his mother in Bratislava, Slovakia, helped bring him to Florida State.

Tallahassee native Anthony Robinson II averages the second-most points per game with 13.7, followed by Kam Taylor at 13.3.

Look for Loucks to focus on building confidence and challenging his bench players to step up and provide more offensive production. Florida State has struggled to find scoring once its starters leave the floor. Against Florida, the bench accounted for just six of the Seminoles' 72 points, 22 of 91 against Troy and just 36 of 113 against Florida A&M.

Florida State will look to use Friday's matchup to get back in the win column, build momentum, and find more offensive production off the bench.

With a stretch of winnable games ahead before traveling to Tennessee for its next major test, Loucks will have an opportunity to address the issues that plagued the Seminoles against Florida, and it starts Friday against TAM-CC.