Florida State takes aim at third-seeded MI

As Texas A&M prepared to meet Notre Dame in the Sweet 16, coach Gary Blair was asked if the game by freshman guard Chennedy Carter that lifted the Aggies to their last win was one of the top performances in school history. Helman ended the night leading A&M with three RBIs, two runs and one home run.

The Wolverines are well coached, play great defense (No. 3 in Adj. Efficiency) and they have options both outside with Jordan Poole, inside with Moritz Wagner and a bench with experience. “Am I correct there?”

Jalen Brunson led the charge with 27 points for the Wildcats, who shot 13-of-24 from deep. “They’re extremely long – Texas A&M was a long team and liked to press the floor, and Florida State likes to press the floor too”.

Free Throws- I know I keep harping on this FSU defensive pressure but it is going to be a huge factor in the game. You look at that lead, and it could go south. “We just want to focus more on the team“.

“We in the ACC, there are a lot of one-and-dones (players) and McDonald’s All-Americans … we feel that we can compete if we have a number of guys contributing night in and night out”.

Texas A&M was a bad matchup for UNC from the start and they exploited it as they dominated the paint and hit open shots. They make fewer than 69% of their attempts, which ranks 283 nationally.

As good as MI shot in the first half, it was better in the second at 68 percent.

It really was the best overall game for MI the entire season. Mann is scoring 13 points per game, but the Seminoles have been a pretty balanced basketball team.

Added Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton: “I don’t think there are any magic bullets”.

“We’ve been playing within ourselves all year and not looking at the opponent too much”, MI forward Moritz Wagner said. “Looking at the game plan, trying to execute that, and I think we’ve been believing all year we can beat anyone if we play our best basketball”.

Seniors Domenica Gonzalez, ranked No. 119 in the country, Macarena Olivares and Eva Paalma have led Texas A&M this dual season, combining for a 35-9 singles record across the top three courts.

The Wolverines also realize what’s different and risky about the surprising Seminoles, who have upset three consecutive higher-seeded opponents to make an unlikely run to the third Elite Eight in school history. “You look at some of those teams we went to this level with, the team a year ago was special, even went through a plane crash and did everything”. It was a welcome sign for John Beilein after a pair of sloppy games in the first two rounds.

The Seminoles heard the roar of the crowd from their Staples Center locker room, then went out and manhandled 4 seed Gonzaga. They have played West Virginia in the Armed Forces Classic in Germany, UC Santa Barbara and Penn State in the Legends Classic at Barclay Center in Brooklyn, and USC at Galen Center in Los Angeles. “It’s a really cool thing, and I’m very proud of that, for sure”.

MI coach John Beilein said the length of the A&M players in that zone, namely A&M junior forward D.J. Hogg and sophomore forward Robert Williams, make it hard to contend against.