Florida State Seminoles basketball is on the hardwood at the world’s most famous beach this week to take part in the Sunshine Slam located at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.
Florida State, 2-1 on the season, is coming off a shutout loss to the Florida Gators.
The first game for the Seminoles is against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, who are 2-1 on the season with wins over Stetson and Pepperdine.
According to DraftKings, FSU is a three-point favorite over UNLV.
5:30 p.m
FLORIDA STATE TO TAKE UNLV IN SUNSHINE SLAM SEMI-FINALS
Florida State plays UNLV in the semifinal round of the Beach Bracket at the 2023 Sunshine Slam at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Monday, November 20, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. This marks the Seminoles’ first neutral-site game of the season and their first game against UNLV since the 1990 season Florida State defeated Central Michigan 94-67 in Tallahassee on Nov. 13 in a first-round game of the Sunshine Slam Tournament. The Seminoles’ pair of games at the Ocean Center (against UNLV and Colorado or Richmond) marks the first time since the 200708 season that they played three games at the Ocean Center during the Glenn Wilkes Classic. After Monday’s game against UNLV, the Seminoles play either Colorado or Richmond on Tuesday at 4:00 or 6:30 p.m. in the final round of the 2023 Sunshine Slam. UNLV — RELATED Florida State takes on UNLV in the Sunshine Slam semifinals at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Nov. 20, 2023. The Rebels lead the series 1-0 after a 101-69 win over the Seminoles on Dec. 22, 1990 — when they were ranked No. 1 in both the polls of both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches. The game was played at the Thomas and Mack Center – UNLV’s home court. Kevin Kruger, son of the legendary Lon Kruger, is in his third season as UNLV’s head coach. Krueger has never coached against Florida State. The Seminoles were 4-4 against Lon Krueger while he was the head coach at the University of Florida (1991-96).
HAMILTON IS FIFTH WINNINGEST COACH IN ACC HISTORY
Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton is the fifth-winningest coach in ACC history with 406 career victories and is ranked fifth in ACC history with 184 career ACC victories at Florida State.
SEMINOLES’ BASKETBALL RECORD FOR LONGEST WINNING STREAK
Florida State enters the match against UNLV in the Summer Slam semifinals having won an all-time NCAA record 13 straight games in overtime. The Seminoles beat Duke, 79-78, in overtime on January 18, 2022 in Tallahassee for their all-time college basketball record 13th straight overtime victory. Florida’s overtime win over LSU in the 2018 AdvoCare Invitational was the fourth overtime win during its current 13-game hitting streak. The Seminoles won each of their overtime decisions following a 101-90 doubleheader victory over Syracuse on Jan. 13, 2018, in a game played at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee. FLORIDA STATE SCORE Florida State enters Monday’s game against UNLV averaging 85.3 points per game and four players averaging double figures. The Seminoles scored 94 points against both Kennesaw State and Central Michigan, while senior Darrin Green Jr. and sophomore Cameron Korchen lead the Seminoles in scoring with identical 12.7 points per game averages.
STATISTICAL ODDNESS — SCORIGAMI
Florida State entered the 2023-24 season having played 2,170 games. During those 2,170 games, the Seminoles never won a game, going 94-67. Now, with back-to-back 94-67 wins over Kennesaw State (Nov. 10) and Central Michigan (Nov. 13), they’ve won two games by the same score of 94-67.
SEARCH THE STATE OF FLORIDA FOR…
…Beat UNLV to earn a win over the Runnin’ Rebels for the first time in school history. The Seminoles and Rebels have met once before – in 1990 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas; …Defeat UNLV to run to 9-6 against current Mountain West Conference teams. MWC consists of Air Force (0-1, 1963), Boise State (never played), Colorado State (2-0, 2017), Fresno State (never played), Hawaii (2-2, 2010) , Nevada (never played), New Mexico (3-1, 1988), San Diego State (0-1, 1982), San Jose State (never played), UNLV (0-1, 1990), Utah State ( 1-0, 1997) and Wyoming (never played). … Beat UNLV to win over a Mountain West Conference team for the first time since defeating Colorado State, 90-73, in the Jamaica Classic in Montego Bay, Jamaica. MJ Walker (22 points) and Terance Mann (20) led the Seminoles to the Jamaica Classic championship with the win over the Rams.
FLORIDA STATE IN FLORIDA STATE TOURNAMENTS
Florida State won its Emerald Coast Classic championship with wins over Chicago State, Tennessee and Purdue to start the 2019-20 season. The Seminoles played for the championship at both the 2018 AdvoCare Invitational (2018) and Emerald Coast Classic (winning the championship with a win over Purdue) in 2018-19.