Seminoles Prepare To Host Ranked Virginia Cavalier Squad

TALLAHASSEE – A look inside the box score of Florida State's victory at Notre Dame illustrates just how well the Seminoles played in their 82-79 victory over the Fighting Irish.

Alier Maluk, who had made seven free throws all season long, and who hadn't been to the free throw line since January 3 against Duke, sank two of the biggest free throws of the season to give Florida State its final margin of victory.

Alex Steen, who entered Saturday's game shooting .657 from the free throw line, was a perfect six of six from the line and scored 10 points, including two in the second half when the Fighting Irish would close an 18-point Seminole lead down to one point.

Martin Somerville, who was thrust into the point guard role because of foul trouble by a number of Seminoles, completed a clean statistics sheet with six assists and zero turnovers in 31 minutes of play. He also scored two 3-point field goals (one in each half) as he helped engineer the Seminoles' win in a tough environment.

The Seminoles return home on Tuesday as they play host to the No. 17/18 Virginia Cavaliers who bring a 20-3 overall record and a 9-2 record in ACC play to the Donald L. Tucker Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU with John Schriffen and Chris Spatola on the call.

Jeff Culhane and former Seminole Adrian Crawford will have the call live on the Seminole Sports Network and on Facebook Live on the Florida State Men's Basketball Facebook page. Check out their Courtside Cam Broadcast on the FSU MBB Facebook and X pages, the Seminoles YouTube Channel, and on the Seminoles Unconquered app.

In defeating the Fighting Irish, Florida State made 15 3-point shots (its most in an ACC game this season and tied for the third most in an ACC game in Florida State history), allowed Notre Dame to secure only three steals, and turned the ball over only five times (and one was on a shot clock violation). The Seminoles coupled their season-low five turnovers with 15 assists for a 3:1 assist:turnover ratio.

"To win anywhere on the road in the ACC is very challenging," said head coach Luke Loucks following the Seminoles' third consecutive conference victory. "It was a fun for me because it was a battle of chess in the second half."

The battle for the Seminoles began in the first half. Despite taking an early 17-2 lead, Florida State was whistled for 11 first half fouls (including two each for five Seminole players). Not only did that give Notre Dame extra chances to score, but it slowed down Loucks' penchant for pushing the basketball up the court on the offensive end.

"It's tough when you are up early and then you start fouling," said Loucks. "It slows down the game. It slows our transition break which we were scoring at a pretty good rate early. Notre Dame also adjusted in the second half which took out what we were running for Chauncey Wiggins (who totaled 13 first half points). They also generated two amazing looks at the end of the game which they just missed."

But for Loucks and his staff, it was the players on the court who got the job done and gained the victory.

Even if some of the plays came from the unlikeliest of sources.

Loucks inserted Maluk with under 10 seconds remaining in the game after Steen had fouled. Maluk had played in just five of the Seminoles' first nine ACC games for a total of 33 minutes.

But Loucks had the faith in him to substitute him into the game with the result hanging in the balance.

Maluk stepped up and made two free throws to increase the Seminoles' lead to three at 82-79.

"I was trying not to think too much and to just think about my normal routine," said Maluk "I felt like when the ball left my hands it had a chance to go in. Thankfully I got the shooters touch lucky bounce on the first shot. That definitely helped me shoot the second shot with more confidence. I knew the second one was good."

For Steen, who ranks third on the team with 52 free throws made and second with 76 free throw attempts, getting to the line is normal. He's shot free throws in 22 of Florida State's 23 games and has gone through stretches when he has shot the ball well as evidenced by his five of five performance against Alabama State, his four of four shooting night from the line against Florida, and his four free throws made against both North Carolina and NC State in ACC play.

But it seemed a little different for Steen against Notre Dame.

"I've definitely been working hard on free throws," said Steen who is a career .638 percent shooter from the free throw line. "I feel like I shoot it much better than my percentage shows and I know I am a capable shooter. I have been working on all the little things that go into shooting well from the line like keeping the same routine and making sure I'm taking deep breaths to calm myself."

Steen was four of four from the line in the first half and was good on two more in the second half with under 11 minutes remaining to increase Florida State's lead back to seven at 63-58.

"I think this current stretch we are on means a lot," said Steen. "We all know that we were much better than we played during the beginning of the year, and for us to see our hard work pay off into wins definitely gives us more confidence going into the final stretch off ACC play."

With the fouls piling up in the second half and with three players eventually fouling out, Somerville accepted the role as the primary ball handler – a role he is very comfortable playing.

Somerville scored seven points with six rebounds and two steals in Florida State's victory over Notre Dame. More importantly, the sophomore totaled six assists against zero turnovers in 32 minutes played against the Fighting Irish. It marked the third time in his career that he had totaled at least six assists and zero turnovers in a game during his career. As a freshman at UMass Lowell, he totaled six assists and zero turnovers against NJIT on January 11, 2025, and totaled nine assists and zero turnovers against Binghamton on March 1, 2025.

"I had to find ways to help us win," said Somerville. I had to control the game and facilitate for our team. I did it all last season (at UMass Lowell) and it was good for me to step up when my name was called."

Somerville made two important and well-placed 3-point shots in scoring seven points in Florida State's victory over Notre Dame. His first came at the 14:44 mark of the first half and gave the Seminoles a 20-5 lead. His second came at the 11:57 mark of the second half and gave the Seminoles a 58-51 lead. Somerville has now made a team-leading 48 3-point shots made this season.

"This win is a credit to our locker room," said Loucks. "There were so many points in the season where they could have folded and splintered. Our guys have done a really good job in those moments to have the character that you want to see as a coach of coming together, listening to hard coaching, working through hard practices, and finding solutions.

"Tonight was a good example of that. It wasn't a perfect game. But we found a way to win."

Seminoles Prepare To Host Ranked Virginia Cavalier Squad

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alier Maluk

Martin Somerville

Alex Steen

Chauncey Wiggins

Florida State University Athletics