Florida State Seminoles basketball is on the hardwood in the World’s Most Famous Beach this week to take part in the Sunshine Slam, located inside the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.
Florida State, 2-1 on the season, is coming off a blowout loss to the Florida Gators.
Game one for the Seminoles is a matchup against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, who are 2-1 on the season with wins over Stetson and Pepperdine.
According to DraftKings, FSU is a three-point favorite over UNLV.
5:30 p.m
FLORIDA STATE FACES UNLV IN SEMIFINALS OF SUNSHINE SLAM
Florida State plays UNLV in the semifinal round of the Beach Bracket in the 2023 Sunshine Slam at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Monday, November 20, 2023 at 5:30 pm It marks the Seminoles’ first neutral site game of the season, and their first game against UNLV since the 1990 season. Florida State defeated Central Michigan, 94-67, in Tallahassee on November 13 in a first round on-campus game of the Sunshine Slam. The Seminoles’ pair of games in the Ocean Center (against UNLV and either Colorado or Richmond) marks the first time since the 200708 season when they played three games in the Ocean Center during the Glenn Wilkes Classic. Following Monday’s game against UNLV, the Seminoles play either Colorado or Richmond on Tuesday at 4:00 pm or 6:30 pm in the final round of the 2023 Sunshine Slam. UNLV — CONNECTIONS Florida State faces UNLV in the semifinals of the Sunshine Slam at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., on November 20, 2023. The Rebels lead the series by a 1-0 margin as they gained a 101-69 win over the Seminoles on December 22, 1990 – when they were ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ Polls. The game was played at the Thomas and Mack Center – UNLV’s home court. Kevin Kruger, the son of the legendary Lon Kruger, is in his third season as UNLV Head Coach. Kruger has never coached against Florida State. The Seminoles were 4-4 against Lon Kruger while he was the Head Coach at the University of Florida (1991-96).
HAMILTON IS THE FIFTH WINNINGEST COACH IN ACC HISTORY
Seminole Head Coach Leonard Hamilton is the fifth winningest coach in ACC history with 406 career wins and ranked fifth in ACC history with 184 career ACC wins at Florida State.
SEMINOLES’ COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECORD OVERTIME WINNING STREAK
Florida State enters its game against UNLV in the semifinals of the Summer Slam having won an all-time NCAA record 13 consecutive overtime games. The Seminoles defeated Duke, 79-78, in overtime on January 18, 2022, in Tallahassee for its all-time college basketball record 13th consecutive overtime victory. Florida’s State’s overtime victory over LSU in the 2018 AdvoCare Invitational was its fourth overtime victory during its current 13 game streak. The Seminoles have won each of their overtime decisions since a 101-90 double overtime win over Syracuse on January 13, 2018 in a game played at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee. FLORIDA STATE SCORING Florida State enters Monday’s game against UNLV averaging 85.3 points scored per game and four players averaging in double figure scoring. The Seminoles scored 94 points against both Kennesaw State and Central Michigan while senior Darin Green Jr. and sophomore Cameron Corhen lead the Seminoles in scoring with identical 12.7 points per game scoring averages.
A STATISTICAL ODDITY — SCORIGAMI
Florida State entered the 2023-24 season having played 2,170 games. During those 2,170 games, the Seminoles had never won a game by a score of 94-67. Now, with consecutive 94-67 wins over Kennesaw State (November 10) and Central Michigan (November 13), they have won two games by the same score of 94-67.
LOOK FOR FLORIDA STATE TO…
…Defeat UNLV and gain a win over the Runnin’ Rebels for the first time in school history. The Seminoles and the Rebels have met once before – in 1990 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas; …Defeat UNLV and raise its record to 9-6 against the current teams from the Mountain West Conference. The MWC consists of Air Force (0-1, 1963), Boise State (never played), Colorado State (2-0, 2017), Fresno State (never played), Hawaii (2-2, 2010), Nevada (never played), New Mexico (3-1, 1988), San Diego State (0-1, 1982), San Jose State (never played), UNLV (0-1, 1990), Utah State (1-0, 1997) and Wyoming (never played). …Defeat UNLV and gain a victory over a Mountain West Conference team for the first time since defeating Colorado State, 90-73, in the Jamaica Classic in Montego Bay, Jamaica. MJ Walker (22 points) and Terance Mann (20) led the Seminoles to the championship of the Jamaica Classic with the victory over the Rams.
FLORIDA STATE IN TOURNAMENTS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA
Florida State won their championship of the Emerald Coast Classic with victories over Chicago State, Tennessee, and Purdue to begin the 2019-20 season. The Seminoles have played for the championship of both the AdvoCare Invitational (2018) and the Emerald Coast Classic (won the championship with a win over Purdue) in 2019 since the beginning of the 2018-19 season.
