Florida State desperate for win against Mississippi Valley State

Luke Loucks' first season leading the Florida State basketball team has gone off the rails in a major way.

The Seminoles (5-6) have lost their last five games, tied for the program's longest losing streak since a six-game skid in early 2022.

Desperate for a win, Florida State could find one in a matchup on Friday night in Tallahassee, Fla., against Mississippi Valley State -- the lowest-ranked of Division I's 365 teams in the NET rankings.

This could be a nice salve for the Seminoles. To put their struggles into a little more context, they are 5-0 against teams ranked lower than 200 in the KenPom.com ratings - but 0-6 against teams in the top 200.

Last time out, the Seminoles committed 30 fouls and had five players foul out in a 97-69 loss Tuesday at Dayton. Defense largely has been the team's bugaboo, with four of Florida State's last five opponents scoring 95-plus points.

The Seminoles are allowing 82.4 points per game, which ranks in the bottom 30 of Division I and better than only Providence (84.7 ppg) among major-conference teams.

"We have to find some grit and determination, bare minimum," Loucks said after the Seminoles' 103-95 neutral-court loss to UMass on Dec. 13. "We just don't have the talent to be the less-hardworking team. We have to outwork people. We have to do things together on the defensive end."

Robert McCray V leads Florida State in points (14.4) and assists (6.8) per game and has paced the team in scoring three of the last four games.

The Delta Devils (1-10) are on a nine-game losing streak and have not beaten a Division I nonconference foe since Nov. 18, 2022, against North Alabama.

Their last five losses have been by double digits and their first two matchups against major-conference opponents didn't go well, losing 120-84 on Nov. 25 at Texas A&M and 108-49 on Dec. 8 at Kansas State.

Michael James (20.6 ppg) and Daniel Mayfield (13.4 ppg, 6.7 rebounds per game) are the only two Mississippi Valley State players averaging double-figure scoring. They have combined to lead the Delta Devils in scoring in all 11 games this season.

James scored 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting last time out in an 88-64 home loss to Tarleton State on Tuesday. Mayfield did not play in the game.

The Delta Devils rank 358th in Division I in scoring defense through Tuesday's games, allowing 90.2 points per game.

--Field Level Media