Florida State will try to continue climbing the Atlantic Coast Conference standings when it tips off a two-game Western swing with a first-ever visit to Berkeley, Calif., to take on Cal on Wednesday night.
The schools have met just once previously in men’s basketball, in the finals of the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas in 2008. Florida State won that game 80-77.
The Seminoles (13-5, 4-3) recognize having to deal with the home crowds of Cal and Stanford on Saturday will make this trip a bit more difficult.
“Most importantly, we want to go and come back with two victories,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “So the way I picture it: Let’s go and make the best of it. As opposed to thinking of the challenges, I want to think about spending that much time together. It will help us grow as a team and a brotherhood.”
The Seminoles split games on a shorter trip to Miami and Clemson earlier this month. The 77-57 loss at Clemson was Florida State’s only defeat in its last five games, allowing a team that was once 0-2 in ACC play to build a winning ACC record.
Cal will be hosting a pair of Eastern rivals this week for the second time this season. The Golden Bears (9-9, 2-5) split decisions when they beat Virginia but then lost to Virginia Tech two weeks ago.
Cal has since made a second West-to-East journey and came away with its first-ever ACC road win last Saturday, claiming a 65-62 decision at North Carolina State.
Unlike the Virginia victory, which was followed by a pair of losses, Cal coach Mark Madsen hopes the road success in Raleigh will lead to its first ACC winning streak.
“Our guys never stopped believing,” Madsen said. “And the biggest thing is they never stopped working.”
The game features three of the top-10 scorers in ACC play. Cal’s Andrej Stojakovic is fourth in the conference with a 19.6 average, while Florida State’s Jamir Watkins (18.4) and Malique Ewin (17.7) rank ninth and 10th, respectively.
Watkins and Ewin scored 17 points apiece while Taylor Bol Bowen poured in 20 in Florida State’s 91-78 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
