College basketball

Tonight: Florida State at No.21 N.C. State

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published February 15, 2006

WHEN/WHERE: 7; RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C.

RADIO: 1470-AM. RECORDS: FSU 15-6, 5-5 ACC; North Carolina State 19-5, 8-3.

COACHES: FSU - Leonard Hamilton (60-54, fourth season; 260-264 overall); North Carolina State - Herb Sendek (188-127, 10th season; 251-153).

NOTABLE: The Seminoles look for a third straight win and, more important, their first against a ranked team; they're running out of chances at such a signature W to enhance their NCAA Tournament resume. ... Junior forward Alexander Johnson has four double doubles in his past five games, and his matchup with N.C. State sophomore Cedric Simmons could be pivotal. ... The Wolfpack is coming off a disappointing 71-68 loss at Georgia Tech but hasn't lost back-to-back games all season. ... State, which runs a Princeton-style offense (a lot of 3-pointers and backdoor layups), leads the ACC in average 3s made (9.3) and is second in 3-point percentage (.392); the Seminoles are last in the league in 3-point percentage defense (.370). ... The Wolfpack leads the series 23-15 and has won 13 of the past 14 meetings. FSU's win in that span, however, came in January 2005 in Raleigh. ... N.C. State is 14-1 at home this season, 5-0 in ACC play. The Seminoles are 3-4 on the road, 2-3 in the ACC; they last won three ACC road games in 1992-93.

[Last modified February 15, 2006, 00:14:18]