Florida State, Georgia set for first meeting in 42 years

Field Level Media|published: Tue 28th November, 23:59 2023

Florida State Seminoles forward Jamir Watkins (2) looks to make his next move. The Florida State Seminoles hosted the Central Michigan Chippewas on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. credits: Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK

Throughout their struggles last season, one thing remained constant for the Florida State Seminoles. They can still win overtime games.

Fresh off another OT triumph against Colorado last week, the Seminoles will try to make it five wins in six games to open the season when they host Georgia on Wednesday night in Tallahassee in one of the 14 games of the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge.

Florida State leads the all-time series between the two schools 19-10 but has not played Georgia since losing to the Bulldogs in 1981.

The Seminoles (4-1) won their NCAA-record 14th consecutive overtime game last Tuesday to claim the Sunshine Slam tournament championship behind a balanced effort led by Jalen Warley (19 points) and Jamir Watkins (18 points and 11 rebounds). Watkins was named tournament MVP and ACC Co-Player of the Week for his efforts.

"I think we have a nice group of youngsters who are talented," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said earlier this season. "We've got our depth back, and we can sustain our energy for 40 minutes like we've been accustomed to."

In the midst of a tough slate to open the season, Georgia (3-3) is looking to build momentum after playing four major conference opponents in its first five games. The Bulldogs are 1-3 against those opponents, though, and hope to reverse that trend against FSU.

Noah Thomasson has led the Bulldogs on the offensive end, averaging 14.3 points per game and totaling 43 points over the Bulldogs' past two games. Jabri Abdur-Rahim is averaging 13.3 points per game.

Thomasson scored 24 points to help the Bulldogs hold off Winthrop at home this past Friday after a double-digit lead shrunk to four points midway through the second half.

"It's nice to have Noah Thomasson on your team," said Georgia coach Mike White, who has experience playing against FSU from his previous stint as the University of Florida's coach. "He needs to make good decisions; he got other guys some shots, too. We didn't shoot it particularly well, or his assist number might have been better, but again, he was plus-14, so he had a good game."

—Field Level Media

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