Florida State Seminoles vs. NC State Wolfpack: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/1/2023

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Venue: PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC

Where to watch: ACC Network

DraftKings: NC State -9.5

FanDuel: NC State -9.5

BetMGM: NC State -9.5

Caesars: NC State -9.5

Florida State: 7-15 (5-6 ACC)

NC State: 17-5 (7-4 ACC)

Florida State: lost 82-81 vs. No. 24 Clemson

NC State: won 79-77 at Wake Forest

A complete flip flop in terms of the ACC this year and there has been no greater game to display that than what the matchup will be on Wednesday when the Florida State Seminoles take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Wednesday.

 

Usually it is around this time that we acknowledge NC State as a bonafide top program in the conference and so far that is to be the case. NC State is 17-5 on the season and is 7-4 in conference play while coming off a 79-77 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday.

 

D.J. Burns Jr. scored a career high 31 points and Jarkel Joiner scored 17 points to help lead the NC State offense and what was a back and forth affair all night. Burns scored 23 of his 31 points in the second-half and NC State only needed to make 8 of 17 from 3 point range and just seven of their 16 free throw attempts in order to win the game.

 

the win was the 6th in seven games for NC State but they have only covered in for the last seven. They were actually getting three points in this game against Wake Forest and got the outright upset. NC State was favored by 6 in their twelve point win at Georgia Tech on January 17th but other than that there hasn't been any notable covers of them as a favorite. I would venture to guess that this game would be a heavy point spread in favour of the opponent but that's neither here nor there for me to decide.

 

But we were very close to having one of those massive upsets on the weekend when Florida State nearly beat Clemson last week, but the 24th ranked tigers and the top team in the ACC rallied to defeat Florida State 82-81 in what was an absolute barnburner of a game hosted by a team that just has seven wins on the season. You can't really replicate that.

 

Matthew Cleveland led Florida State with 18 points, 4 rebounds and four assists while shooting six of 16 from the field, and Caleb Mills was second in line with 15 points on just four of 10 shooting with all four field goals being 3 pointers.

 

I always find it very funny when it's team is as bad as Florida State is this year and it is actually getting only 2.5 points against the top team in the conference. Florida State has not been favored since January 7th against Georgia Tech but has covered in four of its last five when the spread has been it's high as 10. You would think that this would lend its hand toward Florida State but I'm not leaning toward that.

 

Florida State has won the last five meetings and Florida State has also covered three of those five meetings. But the way that NC State is playing recently, I have more confidence in what they can do at home as opposed to what Florida State can almost do at home. NC State 82, Florida State 70

Florida State is 13-4 ATS off a home cover where they lost straight up as an underdog since 1997.

Florida State is 17-3 ATS after 2 straight games as a home underdog since 1997.

NC State is 4-12 ATS after a game they covered the last 2 seasons.

PG: Jalen Warley

SG: Caleb Mills

SF: Darin Green Jr.

PF: Matthew Cleveland

C: Cam Corhen

PG: Jarkel Joiner

SG: Casey Morsell

SF: Terquavion Smith

PF: Greg Gantt

C: D.J. Burns Jr.

Injury report

Florida State: N. McLeod (illness, doubtful), C. Fletcher (knee, out)

NC State: J. Clark (hip, out), D. Mahorcic (knee, out)

Points: Matthew Cleveland -- 14.2

Rebounds: Matthew Cleveland -- 7.8

Assists: Jalen Warley -- 3.7

Points: Terquavion Smith -- 18.5

Rebounds: Dusan Mahorcic -- 6.8

Assists: Terquavion Smith -- 4.4