Florida State hopes to extend hot start vs. Western Carolina

Florida State will try to build off its best start since the 2019-20 season when it faces Western Carolina on Tuesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.

The Seminoles (6-1) have won three games in a row and are coming off a strong performance at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off, where they downed Temple before putting together a 92-59 blowout of UMass on Sunday.

It marks the first time in five years that Florida State has come away with six wins in its first seven games. The Seminoles went 7-1 to begin the 2019-20 campaign.

Malique Ewin collected a team-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds in the victory over UMass. Jamir Watkins chipped in 14 points, while Jerry Deng and Justin Thomas each totaled 10.

FSU got to the free-throw line 28 times against the Minutemen. The Seminoles sank only 17 foul shots, but Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton is hoping that his team learns to capitalize on its opportunities from the stripe.

"I thought we would always be a free-throw-shooting team and always thought we would be a 3-point-shooting team," Hamilton said following a 79-61 win over Hofstra last Tuesday. "It shows that a lot of this is mental."

The Catamounts (2-2) are coming off an 82-69 loss on Nov. 19 to Wake Forest, another Atlantic Coast Conference foe. Cord Stansberry and Ice Emery netted 20 points apiece in the setback.

Western Carolina ended up getting torched by Hunter Sallis (20 points) and Cameron Hildreth (18), which was exactly what Catamounts coach Tim Craft was trying to avoid.

"Our emphasis ... was to make Sallis and Hildreth pass the ball," Craft said. "They're both so good at scoring at the basket and in the midrange that we (needed) to make them give the ball up."

Florida State is 3-1 against Western Carolina in the all-time series between the teams.

Tuesday's game was originally scheduled to be played at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C., but the site of the contest was moved due to local damage and cleanup efforts following Hurricane Helene.

--Field Level Media