Visiting Miami Florida State hopes to reverse recent trends when the program hosts Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday, while keeping the Sunshine State rivalry looking a little stagnant. I'm thinking of reigniting it. The Seminoles (15-15, 9-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won 11 of their past 12 games, including an 84-75 victory over Coral Gables on Jan. 17. Miami's only win in the game was an 86-63 blowout win. “Honestly, it wasn't a rivalry,” Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga said. “We just couldn't figure out the formula to win against them because they've dealt with us so often the last five or six years. We've never been able to figure out the formula to win against them. The Hurricanes (15-15, 6-12) are limping into the final game of the regular season, having lost eight straight games, their longest since losing 10 straight in the 2003-04 season. Ta. Their last win was an 82-74 decision over Virginia Tech on February 3. The victory comes after a 67-57 loss to Boston University in the final home game. The Seminoles suffered a blowout loss in two games, losing 88-73 to Pittsburgh on Tuesday. It was the third consecutive game in which Florida State allowed an opponent to score in the 80s, including a 90-83 victory over North Carolina State on February 27th. Pittsburgh shot 55.9 percent from the field, making 16 of 26. FSU coach Leonard Hamilton continued to look for answers defensively, shooting (61.5 percent) in the second half. “We probably played more zone in the second half than we've played in the last five years,” Hamilton said. “We've usually always been a very solid man-to-man team, and that's who we are this year.'' The Seminoles rank 14th in the ACC in scoring defense, giving up an average of 75.8 points per game. Only last-place Louisville (79.0) has given up more points. “We haven't been a good defensive team all year,” Hamilton said. “We've been inconsistent.” Jameel Watkins leads the Seminoles with 15.1 points per game, followed by Darin Green Jr. (11.3 points) and Primo Spears (10.4 points). . Norchad Omie leads the Hurricanes with an average of 17.3 points, followed by the trio of Uga Poplar, Nigel Pack and Matthew Cleveland, each averaging 13.7 points. –Field level media
