NCAAB Game Preview - North Alabama at Florida State

Sat Dec 28, 2019 2:00 PM EST

A winner of three straight and undefeated at home this season, No. 17 Florida State shows no signs of slowing down as the Seminoles host North Alabama on Saturday in their final out-of-conference clash of 2019.

Florida State (10-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) is 6-0 in the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla., this season, beating opponents by an average of 24.8 points in those contests. The Seminoles are also riding a three-game win streak entering Saturday against the North Alabama Lions (5-7), who come into the game with quite the opposite results as of late.

The Lions have lost two games in a row and three of their last four, and they are 0-7 on the road this year. They're coming off a 92-80 loss to Alabama A&M a week ago and a 63-56 defeat against UAB a week before that.

But even with a gauntlet of an ACC schedule looming for Florida State -- one that resumes Dec. 31 at home against Georgia Tech -- no one on the Seminoles' roster is looking past North Alabama on Saturday.

"We just have to stick with our game plan," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said of what lies ahead after Saturday. "This is the time of year you find out a lot about your team."

That game plan has been to get a lot of players a lot of minutes -- and so far, it's worked. Florida State has three guys averaging double-figures -- guards Trent Forrest and Devin Vassell both average 11.9 points per game, while fellow guard M.J. Walker averages 10.6. But beyond that, they have six players averaging 5.4 points a game or more, and each accounts for an average of 15 minutes or more a game.

The Seminoles needed every minute -- and point -- they could get in their last outing, a 66-60 squeaker against South Florida. The Bulls led most of the contest before a furious late-game comeback by the Seminoles helped them prevail.

"That's what makes college basketball so exciting for the fans is that anyone is capable of pulling the game out on any day," Hamilton said.

North Alabama is led in scoring by Jamari Blackmon, who averages 13.1 points an outing, while fellow guard Christian Agnew averages 11. Like Florida State, the Lions' scorers can fill it up, as they have five players averaging between 6.5 and 9.1 points a game behind the leaders.

North Alabama played well in its last game out, despite the loss, as guard C.J. Brim scored 22 points, forward Mervin James added 18 points and forward Emanuel Little scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Agnew scored 13 points with eight rebounds in the loss.

Blackmon was held to only four points, a product of going 0 of 5 from behind the arc.

North Alabama trailed by one point at halftime and couldn't muster a comeback of any kind of the second half -- much to the dismay of head coach Tony Pujol.

"In the second half, (UAB) made some serious shots," Pujol said. "Some were contested, some were not, but they still made shots. So I think what my guys need to understand is they got to compete for 40 minutes in a game."

Following Saturday's road trip to Florida State, North Alabama hosts Jacksonville University at home Jan. 2.

--Field Level Media