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May 17, 2011
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) –
Florida State, which advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2011, will travel to face Michigan State on Nov. 30 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich. in the 13th Annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. The game between the Seminoles and the Spartans will be played as one of the marquee games of the 12-game event and will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com will combine to televise all 12 games of the two-day event, one more than in the previous 12 challenges.
The 2011 ACC/Big Ten Challenge involves six teams ranked an early preseason top 25 by ESPN.com senior college basketball writer Andy Katz, including three in the top five: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Duke, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 21 Florida State and No. 23 Michigan.
The Seminoles finished the 2011 season ranked 19th nationally in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll, finished in third place in the ACC with an 11-5 record and defeated four ranked teams in finishing with a 23-11 record. The Seminoles return three of five starters and six players with extensive starting experience to its 2012 team which is ranked in the nation’s top 25 in most of the polls already released by the national media including Andy Katz of ESPN and Jeff Goodman, formerly of FoxSports.
Florida State is the third winningest program in the ACC in the last six years (since the start of the 2005-06 season) in total ACC regular season and ACC Tournament games. The Seminoles have won 58 games against ACC completion during that span. Florida State played in the 2009 ACC Championship game and is one of only two teams in the ACC (also Duke) which has finished with double digit ACC wins and in the top four of the ACC standings in each of the last three seasons
2011 ACC Big Ten Challenge Tuesday November 29, 2011 Wednesday November 30 Miami at Purdue Indiana at NC State Northwestern at Georgia Tech Penn State at Boston College Illinois at Maryland Florida State at Michigan State Michigan at Virginia Virginia Tech at Minnesota Clemson at Iowa Wake Forest at Nebraska Duke at Ohio State Wisconsin at North Carolina
Florida State finished the 2011 season as the field goal percentage defense national statistical champion with a .363 mark – the second consecutive season it has led the nation in the most telling defensive statistic kept by the NCAA. The Seminoles are the first team to repeat as the field goal percentage national champions since Marquette in the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Florida State’s .363 mark ranks as the fourth lowest mark by a leader in the category since the NCAA began compiling the statistic in 1977.
The Seminoles return four starters from its 2011 Sweet 16 team including forwards Bernard James and Okaro White and guard Michael Snaer. James is Florida State’s leading returning rebounder (5.9 rpg), Snaer is its leading returning scorer (8.8 ppg) and White started each of the Seminoles’ final 13 games of the season. A pair of additional Seminoles – guards Deividas Dulkys and Luke Loucks – who both have starting experience and have played in a combined 197 career games return to the line-up.
“The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is annually a great series for our league and playing Michigan State is a great opponent for our team,” said 10th year Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton. “The opportunity for us to play Michigan State on its home court is going to be a tremendous challenge for our players. It presents the type of challenge that our team can benefit from as we prepare for ACC play. Tom Izzo is one of the great coaches in all of college basketball and his teams either win the national championship or challenge for it each year. As our program continues to improve we look forward to playing opponents like Michigan State on an annual basis.”
Michigan State returns three of its top six scorers from last year’s squad that posted a 19-15 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for a 14th consecutive season. Michigan State’s NCAA Tournament streak is the third longest in the nation, trailing only Kansas (22) and Duke (16). The Spartans have appeared in six of the last 13 Final Fours, the most by any school during that stretch.
The 2011-12 Spartans will feature an experienced frontcourt, led by the senior duo of Draymond Green and Delvon Roe. Green ranked second on last year’s team in scoring with 12.6 ppg, while leading the team in both rebounding (8.6 rpg) and assists (4.1 apg). Roe averaged 6.1 points and 5.0 rebounds and was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.
Michigan State’s backcourt will be young, led by sophomore Keith Appling, who averaged 6.4 points and shot .411 from 3-point range, and senior transfer Brandon Wood, a 2011 First-Team All-Horizon League honoree who averaged 16.7 points for Valparaiso and is immediately eligible after graduating this May.
Florida State holds a 1-0 series lead over Michigan State with the Seminoles taking a 68-63 victory over the Spartans on March 17, 1997 in the second round of the postseason NIT in a game played in Tallahassee. The Randell Jackson led Seminoles defeated the Mateen Cleaves led Spartans on Florida State’s way to the championship game of the NIT. The Seminoles lost in the championship game of the tournament to Michigan, 82-73, in a game played in Madison Square Garden.
With the addition of Nebraska to the Big 10, each of the 12 ACC teams will play in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the first time. This year’s event will include 11 teams that played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament: Clemson, Duke, Florida State and North Carolina from the ACC, and Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin from the Big Ten.
Since 2000, the ACC (10) and the Big Ten (nine) have combined for 19 Final Four appearances and six national titles: North Carolina (2009 and 2005), Maryland (2002), Duke (2001 and 2010) and Michigan State (2000). The ACC leads in NCAA Tournament victories and Final Four appearances while the Big Ten is first in tournament appearances.
Nine of the games will feature first-time Challenge matchups: No. 11 Wisconsin at No. 1 North Carolina, No. 21 Florida State at Michigan State, No. 23 Michigan at Virginia, Miami at Purdue, Clemson at Iowa, Indiana at North Carolina State, Penn State at Boston College, Virginia Tech at Minnesota and Wake Forest at Nebraska.
FLORIDA STATE'S ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE HISTORY (6-6) Dec. 1, 1999 Nov. 29, 2000 Nov. 28, 2001 Dec. 2, 2002 Florida State 60 at Florida State 71 Florida State 50 at Florida State 80 at Northwestern 46 Minnesota 76 at Northwestern 57 Iowa 67Dec. 1, 2003 Nov. 30, 2004 Nov. 29, 2005 Nov. 28, 2006 at Florida State 71 Florida State 70 at Florida State 97 Florida State 66 Northwestern 53 at Minnesota 69 Purdue 57 at Wisconsin 81
Nov. 27, 2007 Dec. 3, 2008 Dec. 2, 2009 Nov. 30, 2010 at Florida State 75 Florida State 59 Florida State 64 Ohio State 58 Minnesota 61 at Northwestern 73 at Ohio State 77 at Florida State 44
