Florida State and Wake Forest are both striving to end losing streaks as the teams prepare to meet Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.
It’s been a rough first season for coach Luke Loucks at Florida State (7-10, 0-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Seminoles are 2-9 over their past 11 games, including a four-game losing streak since conference play began.
After an embarrassing 113-69 loss at home against NC State, Florida State nearly bounced back with a win at Syracuse but fell 94-86 to the Orange. The Seminoles led by three midway through the second half before Syracuse put together a 12-2 run to take control of the game.
Robert McCray V has been one of the few bright spots for the Seminoles, averaging 13.7 points per game.
But Florida State, which historically put together strong defensive efforts under Loucks’ predecessor Leonard Hamilton, has struggled at that end of the court. The Seminoles rank last among ACC teams in scoring defense, allowing 82.1 points per game.
Their last three opponents have scored 91 or more points and shot 52.8% or better from the field, with Syracuse shooting 59.7% on Tuesday.
“On an individual level, I need to continue to find better ways to motivate guys,” Loucks said recently.
The Demon Deacons (10-7, 1-3 ACC) have dropped two in a row and four of their past five. They continue to miss chances in close games against ranked competition, as they did last Saturday, when they fell 87-84 at then-No. 17 North Carolina.
The Demon Deacons have been competitive against top-flight competition, which showed during a pair of one-point losses to Michigan and Texas Tech in nonconference play. But Wake Forest knows it needs to do a better job down the stretch and start stringing together wins.
“I don’t worry about the (team’s) morale. They’re pretty tough dudes,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “They’re not satisfied by any means. They came here to win. … At some point you’ve got to win them.”
Juke Harris has been a catalyst for the Deacons, averaging a team-best 20.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
