After six days off, Florida State will return to the court Sunday as the Seminoles play host to Southeastern Louisiana.
FSU is 5-2 for the season and coming off its most impressive win of the season, beating Virginia Commonwealth in Atlanta last Sunday, 76-71. This weekend’s contest will be the first for FSU at home since beating Jacksonville on Nov. 17.
Freshmen guards Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley have carried the offensive load this season for FSU, combining for more than 36 points per contest. Beasley averages 18.6 points while shooting 58 percent from the field. In addition to averaging nearly 18 points, Bacon leads the team in rebounding with 5.4 boards per game.
Key Players for Southeastern Louisiana
- Zay Jackson (Sr.-G): 10.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.1 APG
- Keith Chaleston (Jr.-G/F): 9.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 65% FG
- James Currtington (So.-F): 7.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 56% FG
Key Players for Florida State
- Xavier Rathan-Mayes (So.-G): 12.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 6.1 APG
- Dwayne Bacon (Fr.-G/F): 17.7 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 52% FG
- Malik Beasley (Fr.-G): 18.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 58% FG
Sophomore guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes is coming off a season-high 23 points in Sunday’s win over VCU. Rathan-Mayes leads the team with 6.1 assists-per-game as well. As a team, FSU ranks 12th in the country, averaging nearly 87 points-per-game.
Southeastern Louisiana comes in just 2-7 on the season, but the Lions have played a difficult schedule with losses to TCU, Texas A&M, Nebraska and Cincinnati. Southeastern Louisiana finished just 9-23 and 6-12 in Southland Conference play last season.
Senior guard Zay Jackson leads the team, averaging 10.4 points and 5.1 assists-per-game. Jackson scored a season-high 23 points his last time out in a 73-69 loss to Southern.
6’8″ junior Keith Charleston is averaging nine points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds-per-game. Charleston however, has scored in double-figures in four straight contests.
Sunday’s contest at the Donald L. Tucker Center will be the first meeting between the Seminoles and Lions since December 2006. FSU won that one by an 88-62 final. Jason Rich scored 16 points to lead six FSU players in double-figures. Sunday’s game will start at 3 p.m. eastern time and will air on ESPN3.
Featured image courtesy of Gazette Union
