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Get to know Florida State, your new mortal enemy

Here are today’s Mizzou Links.

By Bill Connelly

Culling mostly from Tomahawk Nation and Ken Pomeroy, here are eight things to know about Missouri’s Friday night NCAA Tournament opponent, Florida State:

1. Leonard Hamilton has recruited pretty well.

Here’s the 247 rating (and overall national ranking) for each FSU player, in order of each person’s percentage of minutes played this season:

  • Phil Cofer (6’8, 218, Sr., 72%) — 0.9007 (No. 148)
  • Terance Mann (6’6, 204, Jr., 70%) — 0.9442 (No. 100)
  • Braian Angola (6’6, 195, Sr., 68%) — NR
  • Trent Forrest (6’5, 215, So., 61%) — 0.9736 (No. 70)
  • CJ Walker (6’1, 195, So., 59%) — 0.9326 (No. 113)
  • MJ Walker (6’6, 205, Fr., 48%) — 0.9892 (No. 28)
  • Mfiondu Kabengele (6’8, 245, Fr., 34%) — 0.8513 (No. 270)
  • Christ Koumadje (7’4, 233, Jr., 28%) — 0.8353 (No. 322)
  • Ike Obiagu (7’0, 240, Fr., 27%) — 0.9730 (No. 63)
  • PJ Savoy (6’4, 200, Jr., 22%) — 0.8700 (No. 15 JUCO)

Of the 10 players in the rotation, four were top-100 recruits, including two freshmen in MJ Walker and Ike Obiagu. He’s recruited pretty well on the wings and has brought in a couple of more long-term projects with size.

2. Hello, positionless basketball.

This is a long team with a diverse skill set.

3. Your open shots come from deep.

FSU ranks 26th in 2PT% allowed but only 179th in 3PA/FGA and 254th in 3PT% allowed.

4. Terance Mann is scary.

The junior is one hell of a finisher, making 63 percent of his 2-pointers and getting to the line over 100 times. He went off for 25 points and eight rebounds in the Noles’ 17-point thrashing of Florida in December.

5. FSU was smoking hot in non-conference play

The Noles went 11-1 in non-con, losing only by one point to Oklahoma State and rising from a projected 55th in KenPom to 27th when ACC play began. Nole fans slowly moved from skeptical to optimistic.

6. They were tough at home

They began conference play just 1-3, but two of the losses were at Duke and Miami, and the one win was at home over UNC. They were 7-2 at home in conference play but only 2-7 on the road, which included losses to Wake Forest and BC.

7. They made a huge comeback against Clemson

FSU had lost two straight games and was coming off of an 84-69 dud of a loss at Notre Dame when Clemson came to town. Per KenPom, Clemson’s win probability was 95 percent with just two minutes left before FSU charged back to force overtime and eventually win, 81-79. Without that win, FSU’s probably a 10-seed or lower.

8. They didn’t finish strong

The Noles lost by 20 at NC State and by 13 at Clemson before beating BC at home to finish the regular season. They bowed out of the ACC Tournament in their first game, falling to Louisville, 82-74.

This Weekend at Rock M

More Links:

  • Queen Karissa. Goodness. She won TWO national titles this weekend.
  • One bracket watch party down, one to go.
  • Tennessee is very good at softball, and Missouri is merely solid. That was made definitively clear this weekend as the No. 4 Vols swept a three-game series, 7-4, 7-0, and 11-3.
  • Mizzou Baseball was way too much for La Salle, sweeping the Explorers by scores of 8-5, 7-1, and 7-0.

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