Florida State improves for rebounding job against Georgia Tech

Florida State will be looking to solidify its position in the heart of the ACC pack, while Georgia Tech will be looking to move up from the conference basement when the teams meet in Atlanta on Saturday.

Despite Tuesday’s 83-73 loss to Miami, Florida State (14-14, 7-8 ACC) is riding one of the best comebacks in the conference, having won six of its last eight games.

The Seminoles have dropped six of their first seven conference games, but are currently playing for a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte during the second week of March.

Florida State holds a tiebreaker with fellow 7-8 conference team Virginia Tech and falls behind Cal and SMU.

Florida State lost 42-23 in a counterattack against Miami. First-year Seminoles coach Luke Loucks will focus on rebounding the rest of the year.

“You can’t beat a top 30 or 40 team in the country by bounceback margin, it’s impossible,” Loucks said. “It was like the varsity team against JV around the rim. That’s bad news. The good news is really simple. … We’ve built and put together a really good basketball team. We can go on and win a lot of games.”

Robert McCray V leads the Seminoles with 15.5 points and 5.9 assists per game while Chauncey Wiggins adds 12.5 points.

Georgia Tech (11-17, 2-13), which has lost nine straight, has not finished last in the conference since 2009.

Coach Damon Stoudamire will implore his team to remain focused on the task at hand, as the bottom three teams in the standings do not qualify for the ACC Tournament.

“With kids, it’s easy to look two or three weeks ahead,” Stoudamire said. “My job is to keep them focused on winning that day. The biggest thing I tell them is to play with pride. There’s no agenda. Don’t let selfishness creep in.”

Kowacie Reeves Jr.’s 14.7-point clip leads the Yellow Jackets, followed by Baye Ndongo (12.7) and Lamar Washington (10.2).

–Field level media