In what could be a match-up of 5-5 teams, Florida State gets set to take on South Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday. Florida State managed to bounce back from an embarrassing loss to Notre Dame by pounding North Florida on Monday, 93-77.
Montay Brandon and Kiel Turpin each had career scoring nights in the victory as Brandon scored 24 points and Turpin added 19. Brandon is shooting 61 percent from the field this season and with Aaron Thomas ineligible, the junior now leads Florida State in scoring, rebounding, steals and minutes played. Brandon is averaging 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds-per-game.
After his best game of the season, the 7’0″ Turpin is averaging 6.7 points-per-game and shooting 64 percent from the field. Freshman Phil Cofer tied a career-high his last time out with 14 points. Cofer is averaging nearly seven points and five rebounds-per-game and has been arguably Florida State’s best player on the block.
Redshirt freshman guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes is coming into his own as a distributor for FSU. It was known that Rathan-Mayes could score, but the Canada-native dished out a career-high 9 of Florida State’s season-high 25 assists in Wednesday’s win over the Ospreys. Mayes averages nearly 12 points and a team-high 4.4 assists-per-game.
South Florida currently sits at 5-4, but will host Seton Hall on Thursday before taking on the Seminoles. The Bulls have been efficient on the offensive end and that’s thanks largely to senior guard Corey Allen Jr., who leads the team in scoring with better than 16 points per contest while shooting 55 percent from the field.
Averaging 13 points and seven rebounds, 6’8″ sophomore Chris Perry will look to challenge the Seminoles inside. A big body at 265 pounds, Perry leads the team in rebounding and blocked shots.
6’6″ junior Nehemias Morillo is averaging 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds for USF while leading assist man Anthony Collins is averaging better than six assists and nearly two steals-per-game.
Saturday’s match-up between the Seminoles and Bulls will be the first between the teams since November of 2007 when USF stunned Florida State in Daytona, 68-67. Toney Douglas missed a last second shot that would have won the game for FSU.
Saturday’s game will be the first of two in Sunrise that day and will tip off shortly after 2:00 P.M. eastern time. The game will be shown on Sun Sports.
