South Carolina (19-15)
+3, o/u 129
at Florida State (20-9), 7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN
by Ultimatecapper.com Staff
The South Carolina Gamecocks, winners of the National Invitational Tournament last season, travel to Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles in an NIT second-round game Tuesday night.
South Carolina may be the defending NIT champs, but they'd rather have had the chance to play for the NCAA title this season. The Gamecocks struggled through the regular season, though, finishing fifth in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division. They did advance to the conference tournament title game, but fell to Florida, ending their hopes of an invitation to the Big Dance.
Florida State finished fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 9-7, and beat Duke three weeks ago. The Seminoles have won three of their last four games after sneaking by Butler 67-63 last Friday in their NIT first-round game.
South Carolina has won five of its last six games after beating Western Kentucky 74-55 in their NIT first-rounder last Wednesday.
The Gamecocks are 17-14 against the spread on the season, 7-7 ats as underdogs, 5-6 ats on the road.
Florida State is 12-10 vs. the number this season, 6-7 ats as chalk, 15-2 straight up and 6-5 ats at home.
South Carolina played one ACC team this season, losing to Clemson 82-63. Florida State split two conference games with the Tigers.
The Seminoles played one SEC team this season, losing to Florida 74-66. South Carolina beat the Gators two out of three games this season.
South Carolina shoots 46% from the floor and the defense has held opponents to just 56 points per game the last five games.
Florida State is shooting 48% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc.
Seminoles’ guard Todd Galloway (8 points, 3 assists per game) is questionable for tonight’s game with an ankle injury, while teammate Al Thornton (16 pts., 7 rebounds per game), who hurt his back earlier this week, is expected to play.
In the RPI at NCAAsports.com, South Carolina is ranked 62nd, Florida State 63rd. In the Sagarin PREDICTOR ratings at usatoday.com, the Gamecocks are ranked #25 at 84.8, the Seminoles #30 at 84.3.
The Sagarin conference ratings rank the ACC third out of 31 Division 1 leagues, the SEC fourth.
The under is a collective 29-23 in South Carolina and Florida State games this season.
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The Ultimatecapper Pick: Take South Carolina at +3 to cover.
