No. 5 Fla St. looks to extend streak vs Virginia Tech
No. 5 Florida State (17-3, 7-2) vs. Virginia Tech (14-7, 5-5)
Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Virginia; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 5 Florida State looks for its sixth straight win in the head-to-head series over Virginia Tech. Florida State has won by an average of 8 points in its last five wins over the Hokies. Virginia Tech’s last win in the series came on March 9, 2016, a 96-85 win.
SQUAD LEADERSHIP: Landers Nolley II has averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 rebounds to lead the charge for the Hokies. Complementing Nolley is Tyrece Radford, who is producing nine points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The Seminoles are led by Devin Vassell, who is averaging 13.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.
SPARKING THE OFFENSE: Wabissa Bede has directly created 40 percent of all Virginia Tech field goals over the last three games. Bede has seven field goals and 21 assists in those games.
WINNING WHEN: Virginia Tech is a sterling 13-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 43.4 percent or less. The Hokies are 1-7 when they let opponents to shoot any better than that.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Hokies have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Seminoles. Virginia Tech has an assist on 41 of 70 field goals (58.6 percent) across its past three matchups while Florida State has assists on 45 of 80 field goals (56.3 percent) during its past three games.
STIFLING STATE: Florida State has forced opponents into committing turnovers on 26.5 percent of all possessions this year, the sixth-highest rate among all Division I teams.