After consecutive road games that were each decided by just four points, Florida State returns home to begin a stretch of three straight games at the Donald L. Tucker Center against Wake Forest on Wednesday. After earning their first road win of the season last Monday at Clemson, the Seminoles valiantly fought 15th-ranked North Carolina on Saturday, but lost 78-74 to fall to 10-10 on the season and just 2-5 in ACC play.
For Florida State, freshman guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes has done just about everything over the last week. After tying a career-high with 9 assists in last Monday’s 59-55 victory over Clemson, Rathan-Mayes set a FSU freshman record with 35 points in Saturday’s loss in Chapel Hill. On the season, Rathan-Mayes leads the Seminoles with just under 14 points-per-game, nearly five assists and in steals with 1.3 per game.
Fellow freshman Phil Cofer has been the Seminoles’ biggest presence inside, averaging better than seven points and nearly five rebounds-per-game in just over 22 minutes. FSU’s trio of 7-footers have struggled this season.
Florida State junior Montay Brandon is averaging 13 points for Florida State on 55 percent shooting while grabbing a team-high 5.5 rebounds-per-game. Fellow junior Devon Bookert joins Brandon and Rathan-Mayes as the only other Florida State player, averaging in double-figures scoring this season with 10.5 points-per-game.
Wake Forest will enter Wednesday’s contest with a record of 9-11 and just 1-6 in the ACC. Two of Wake Forest’s last three losses however have come by three points or less including on Saturday, when the Demon Deacons fell at Clemson, 59-57.
Junior Codi Miler-McIntyre leads Wake Forest with nearly 14 points and four assists-per-game. Miller-McIntyre scored 14 points for the Demon Deacons in Saturday’s loss to the Tigers.
Junior Devin Thomas ranks second on the team, scoring better than 13 points-per-game. Thomas is also the ACC’s second leading rebounder, grabbing 10 boards per contest, including 18 against Iona back in November. Thomas has recorded a double-double in four straight games and has nine for the season.
Florida State was able to defeat Wake Forest 67-60 when the teams met last season in Winston-Salem. Ian Miller came off the bench to lead Florida State with 25 points while Coron Williams finished with 18 as a reserve to lead the Demon Deacons. The Seminoles have won the last two in the series.
The meeting on Wednesday is scheduled to begin at 7:00 P.M. eastern time. It will air on the Raycom Sports Network.
