#2 seed Notre Dame will try to advance to the NCAA Tournament Southwest Region semi-finals when it meets the #10 seed Florida State Seminoles Sunday evening in Chicago.  The winner will head to San Antonio  next Friday to play the Purdue-Virginia Commonwealth victor.

Notre Dame advanced by defeating Akron 69-56 on Friday.  Florida State defeated Texas A&M 57-50 to join the Fighting Irish in the tournament’s third round.

Game time is 9:40PM Eastern time.  I don’t know about you, but I’ll be taking an afternoon nap so I’ll be fresh come the bewilderingly late start time.

What you need to know about Florida State

• #3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 11-5 (12 teams)
• #7 scoring offense in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 68.2 ppg
• #4 scoring defense in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 65.2 ppg
• #10 free throw percentage in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 67.5%
• #3 field goal percentage in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 43.8%
• #1 field goal percentage defense in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 38.5%
• #7 three-point percentage in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 33.8%
• #6 rebounding margin in the Atlantic Coast Conference, +0.9
• #9 assists per game in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 11.5
• #8 turnover margin in the Atlantic Coast Conference, -0.1
• #11 assists/turnovers ratio in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 0.8

6’9″ junior forward Chris Singleton is Florida State’s leading scorer and rebounder with 13.5 points and 6.9 boards per game.  Singleton, who had missed six games with a broken foot, returned to the lineup on Friday.  He played 16 minutes, scored 5 points, and grabbed a pair of rebounds.

Senior guard Derwin Kitchen (10.0 points) is FSU’s only other double digit scorer.  Kitchen adds 5.6 rebounds per game, third on the team just behind 6’10” Bernard James’ 5.7.

Head Coach Leonard Hamilton uses nine players extensively.  Like Notre Dame, FSU plays a big lineup; but unlike Notre Dame, the Seminoles do not have guards who handle the ball well by major conference standards.

In Friday’s win over #7 seed Texas A&M, FSU took the lead with just under 14 minutes to play and never relinquished it en route to a 57-50 victory.  It was an ugly first half for both teams with TAMU leading 26-23 at the break.  It stayed ugly for A&M, but the Seminoles played a much better second half on the offensive end of the floor.  They scored 34 points by improving their shooting from 38% in the first half to 55% in the second half and making 3 of 6 three pointers compared to the first half’s 1 for 9.

What you need to know about Notre Dame

• #2 in the Big East, 14-4
• #3 scoring offense in the Big East, 71.7 ppg
• #9 scoring defense in the Big East, 66.9 ppg
• #6 free throw percentage in the Big East, 71.0%
• #2 field goal percentage in the Big East, 46.8%
• #9 field goal percentage defense in the Big East, 42.9%
• #1 three-point percentage in the Big East, 40.4%
• #6 rebounding margin in the Big East, +1.7
• #4 assists per game in the Big East, 15.3 per game (tied with Syracuse)
• #12 turnover margin in the Big East, -0.8
• #1 assists/turnovers ratio in the Big East, 1.4

Big East Player of the Year Ben Hansbrough led the Irish with a 20.3 point scoring average, third in the Big East.  He added 4.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 43% three point shooting, and 58% shooting inside the arc.  Hansbrough recovered from a sub-par performance in ND’s loss to Louisville in the Big East Tournament with a steady 15 point, 6 assist performance.

Tim Abromaitis (14.7 points), Carleton Scott (10.2), Scott Martin (9.4), and Ty Nash (9.3) complete the starting lineup as well as most of the team’s scoring.  Scott is the team’s leading rebounder with 7.4 per game, fifth in the conference. Abromaitis’ 47.3% shooting beyond the arc is second in the conference.  Jack Cooley brings bulk, toughness, and occasional scoring outbursts off the bench, and Eric Atkins’ 2.7 assist/turnover ratio is tops in the Big East.

The Irish beat Akron on Friday with a workmanlike performance around the baskets.  They owned the lane with a 41-32 rebounding advantage for the game and 67% two point shooting in the second half while harassing Akron’s 7’0″ center into a 2-12 shooting game.   Carleton Scott led the defensive effort with 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

The Matchup

Florida State has the combination of height, length, and quickness that gives Notre Dame’s offense trouble.  Expect the Seminoles to try to duplicate Louisville’s tactic that worked so well in the second half of UL’s recent victory over the Irish – pressure the ball to disrupt ND’s rhythm in halfcourt offense, and show the shooters a lot of arms.  Notre Dame needs to be patient.  A team that overplays the ball is susceptible to the extra pass.

ND doesn’t like to crash its offensive boards, but it will be necessary if its shooters aren’t hitting their shots.  FSU is vulnerable on the boards and does not run a lot, so the risk of crashing the offensive glass is not what it would be against most Big East teams.

On the defensive end of the floor, expect ND to pack the lane and dare FSU to make outside shots because the Seminoles are dangerous close to the basket and poor when shooting from long range.  They only made 33% of their three point shots for the season and 4 of 14 from long range on Friday; but they made 51% of their two point attempts for the season and 16 of 28 on Friday.  FSU will get some points in the lane, so it’s crucial that ND prevent second chances when FSU missed by cleaning up the defensive boards.

Game Information

• #2 seed Notre Dame (26-6/14-4) vs #10 seed Florida State (21-10/11-5)
• Sunday, March 20th at 9:40PM (ET)
• The United Center, Chicago, Illinois
• Television: TBS
• Internet: CBS Sports

If Notre Dame Wins

If the Irish win, they will play the winner of the game between #3 seed Purdue (26-7) from the Big Ten and #11 seed Virginia Commonwealth (25-11) from the Colonial Athletic Association on Friday.  We’ll have a preview for you Thursday evening.

(Note: All cited team statistics are for their’ conference regular seasons.  The Notre Dame individual statistics are for the conference season as well, but Florida State individual statistics are for the entire season.  Apparently the high level math required to separate conference-only numbers it too much for the ACC and its member schools.)

– Kevin O’Neill