Florida State Seminoles men’s basketball hits the road to face No. 8 Houston in the Houston Hoops Showdown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Saturday evening at 8 p.m. The game will be shown on Peacock. A stream can be found here.
Noles247 will have updates throughout the game. Updates will include play-by-play in the comment section of this article, starting lineup, news and notes, injury updates, scoring updates, and more below.
The Cougars are 7-1 on the early season, while FSU enters the contest with a 5-3 record.
The lone loss for the Cougars came to Top 25-ranked Tennessee in the Players Era Championship Tournament. They’ve notched victories over the likes of Auburn, Syracuse, and most recently Notre Dame so far this season. Houston stands second in the KenPom national defensive efficiency ratings (91.5) through games of December 2. The Cougars led the country in that category a year ago and have stood among the Top 10 in each of the last five seasons. They rank 31st in offensive efficiency ratings (119.4) on the season and 8th overall in KenPom (+27.96).
The Cougars have posted a 2-1 record inside Toyota Center during the program’s his- tory. This marks the second straight season in which Houston will compete in the home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets after falling 74-69 to #11 Auburn during the Mattress Firm Battleground 2k24 on Nov. 9, 2024.
The Cougars are coached by Kelvin Sampson who is in his 12th season as Houston’s head coach. He has never coached against Florida State. He is 306-85 in his 12 seasons at Houston and 806-355 in 37 seasons as a head coach.
FSU has lost two in a row, as they were blown out by Texas A&M in Tampa, Fla. eight days ago and followed that up with a blowout loss to Georgia at home in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday. FSU ranks 74th in the KenPom national defensive efficiency ratings (101.9) through games of December 2. They rank 123rd in offensive efficiency ratings (109.9) on the season and 95th overall in KenPom (+8.06).
The Seminoles are guided by head coach Luke Loucks, who is in his first season as a head coach.
The two schools are meeting for the sixth time, but the first time in over 50 years. The two teams last met in January of 1974 in the Bluebonnet Classic Title Game at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston. Houston has a 3-2 advantage in the series that dates back to 1962.
POSSIBLE STARTING LINEUP FOR FLORIDA STATE
F #7 Chauncey Wiggins (13.6 ppg and 5.4 rpg; First career double-double in win over Georgia Southern)
F #25 Alex Steen (8.5 ppg and 7.1 rpg; 13 points and 7 rebs in win over UT Martin)
G #5 Kobe MaGee (10.9 ppg and 3.9 rpg; 21 points on 4 made 3-point shots in against Texas A&M
G #6 Robert McCray V (13.9 ppg and 7.0 apg; Program record 17 assists in win over Alcorn State)
G #10 Lajae Jones (12.8 ppg and 4.3 rpg; Career-high 36 points in Florida State;s victory over Georgia Southern)
TOP RESERVES
G #1 Martin Somerville (8.5 ppg and 2.4 spg, 5 assists and 4 steals in win over UT Martin)
F #3 Thomas Bassong (4.1 ppg and 3.0 rpg; Seminoles’ leading rebounder off the bench against Alcorn St)
F #12 Alier Maluk (1.8 ppg and 1.6 rpg; 4 pts and 4 rebs in 9 minutes in win over UT Martin)
G #2 Cam Miles (8.0 ppg and 2.4 apg; Career-high 17 points in win over UT Martin)
C #4 Shah Muhammad (2.2 ppg and 1.5 rpg; 10 minutes played in win over Alabama State)
POSSIBLE STARTING LINEUP FOR HOUSTON
F #11 Joseph Tugler (81. ppg and 5.5 rpg; 10 pts and 8 rebs against Notre Dame)
C #5 Chris Cenac Jr. (9.0 ppg and 7.8 rpg; 12 pts and 10 rebs against Lehigh)
G #4 Kingston Flemings (15.3 ppg and 3.6 rpg; 19 pts and 5 rebs against Oakland)
G #7 Milos Uzan (12.9 ppg and 4.4 apg; 11 pts and 6 rebs against Towson)
G #21 Emanuel Sharp (16.4 ppg and 3.6 rpg; 24 pts and 7 rebs against Lehigh)
Note: The Courgars have started the five above in all eight games this season. They produce 82.4% of Houston’s scoring per outing.
Referee is Pat Adams and the umpires are Brett Smith and Steve Anderson.
FSU will have the next week off, to focus on final exams, before they travel to face UMass int he Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in Sunrise, Fla. on Saturday, December 13th at noon.
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