The Big Preview: Injury-riddled Florida State looks to right ship at Virginia

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton likes to go with a 12-man rotation, wearing down opponents late in games with his depth.

Injuries to Caleb Mills (12.7 ppg, 26.8 minutes/g), Malik Osborne (10.0 ppg, 6.9 rebounds/g, 27.6 minutes/g), Anthony Polite (9.7 ppg, 5.5 rebounds/g, 28.2 minutes/g) and Naheem McLeod (4.5 ppg, 11.1 minutes/g) have forced Hamilton to go deeper into his roster than he was prepared to go at the beginning of the season.

“We are in a period where we have to find a way to overcome the challenges we are facing,” Hamilton said after the ‘Noles 71-55 loss at Boston College on Monday night.

He at least had RayQuan Evans (8.2 ppg, 24.0 minutes/g) back after Evans had to miss the loss at Duke last weekend with a knee injury, but Evans had just three points on 1-of-5 shooting in 22 minutes in Chestnut Hill.

The rash of injuries hit right when FSU was at the top of the ACC, sitting at 6-2 in league play after a 61-60 win at Miami on Jan. 22 that completed a season sweep of the ‘Canes.

That FSU team also had an OT win over Duke on its way to a 13-5 start.

The ‘Noles have lost eight of nine since, the lone win an 81-80 home triumph over Clemson last week.

Five of the eight losses have been by double-digits as Hamilton has had to juggle lineups and rotations.

“We have been accustomed to rotating our guys every four-and-a-half or five minutes. Now, we extended their minutes,” Hamilton said after the loss at BC. “We have to figure out how to rotate a little better with who we have available. It is late in the season, and it’s challenging to change the way you have been playing. You want to continue to play with what has worked for you and not feel that we can’t live up to what we’ve always done on a consistent basis.”

The (reworked) rotation

6’7” freshman Matthew Cleveland (11.1 ppg, 4.8 rebounds/g, 44.2% FG, 16.7% 3FG) has emerged as the go-to guy of late.

Cleveland, a two guard, has averaged 13.8 points per game over FSU’s most recent six games.

His minutes played numbers – 34.2 minutes per game over that stretch – is an indication of the lack of depth from the injuries.

Hamilton has been starting a pair of seven-footers – 7’2” senior Tanor Ngom (4.7 ppg, 2.2 rebounds/g, 68.3% FG) and 7’1” freshman John Butler (5.3 ppg, 3.0 rebounds/g, 41.4% FG, 37.7% 3FG) – over the past eight games.

Ngom was inserted after FSU lost the 7’4” McLeod, so going super-big has been the MO for Hamilton all season long.

Evans (8.2 ppg, 41.4% FG, 33.3% 3FG), a 6’4” senior, splits time at the point with 6’6” freshman Jalen Warley (3.7 ppg, 2.5 assists/g, 18.9 minutes/g).

6’8” senior Wyatt Wilkes (3.9 ppg, 14.8 minutes/g) has been the starter at the three spot for Hamilton of late.

6’7” sophomore Cam’Ron Fletcher (6.9 ppg, 48.0% FG, 36.4% 3FG) is the sixth man. Over FSU’s past four games, Fletcher is averaging 15.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in 28.5 minutes per game.

6’8” senior Harrison Prieto (2.8 ppg, 11.0 minutes/g) rounds out the rotation.

Matchups

This Florida State team is, as always, big. The smallest guy on the floor will be Evans at 6’4”, and Hamilton starts two seven-footers, and they’ll each get around 20 minutes, eight to 10 of them together.

It’s a challenge for a Virginia team with a 5’9”-ish point guard, Kihei Clark (10.5 ppg, 4.2 assists/g, 41.1% FG, 37.9% 3FG), and a 6’6” power forward, Jayden Gardner (15.3 ppg, 7.0 rebounds/g, 51.5% FG).

Gardner is going to get a lot of minutes with a seven-footer checking him. Clark gives up seven inches to Evans, nine inches to Warley.

6’3” sophomore guard Reece Beekman (7.9 ppg, 5.0 assists/g, 43.8% FG, 32.1% 3FG) and 6’4” junior guard Armaan Franklin (11.4 ppg, 40.0% FG, 25.4% 3FG) will get matchups with Cleveland, Fletcher and Wilkes, giving up three to four inches depending on who they’re checking.

You may see Tony Bennett go with both of his bigs, 6’11” sophomore Kadin Shedrick (7.0 ppg, 5.4 rebounds/g, 2.2 blocks/g, 62.6% FG) and 7’1” junior Francisco Caffaro (4.5 ppg, 4.5 rebounds/g, 50.6% FG) to counter Hamilton’s two seven-footers for some stretches.

Expect to see 6’7” senior Kody Stattmann (3.1 ppg, 14.2 minutes/g) get some quality bench minutes.

The stakes

Virginia (17-11, 11-7 ACC) absolutely cannot afford a hiccup in this one (Saturday, 4 p.m., ESPN2).

The Cavaliers have some things in terms of resume that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee would like – three Quad 1 wins, a 3-1 record against Duke and Miami, five true road wins.

They also have things that not even a mother could love – a home loss to Navy, a road loss at JMU, which is 6-11 in the CAA, both of which are dragging down the numbers in the algorithms.

Virginia needs to win out against FSU and Louisville and win at least one, maybe two, in Brooklyn, and even then, it would be a sweaty-palms Selection Sunday.

A loss on Saturday would be devastating.

Story by Chris Graham