Florida State fought hard but fell short to the top-ranked Florida Gators at home on Tuesday evening. It was a good measuring stick for the Seminoles, and they now have a few weeks to ramp up against low/mid-major schools before their next power-conference game against Tennessee on December 1st.

Their first test will be against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday evening. It's a little bit of a double-header, as this game will be at 5 p.m. EST in the Donald L. Tucker Center on ACCNX before FSU Football plays on the road at Pitt starting at 7 p.m.

It will be interesting to see how Florida State responds after Tuesday's emotional loss. They should blow TAMU-CC out of the water, but if they feel down on themselves after Tuesday's loss, or don't take this game seriously, it's going to get uncomfortable in a hurry.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders Breakdown (2-1 Overall)

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (it's a lot to type) is in their fourth season under head coach Jim Shaw. Almost his entire coaching tenure has been in the state of Texas, though he did have a few years as the video coordinator for Nebraska. He was the assistant at Corpus Christi when they made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2022 and 2023, but they haven't been back in his head coaching tenure.

They've been a pretty solid Southland Conference team, though. They've been at or above .500 in conference play in each of the last five seasons, and they're usually a threat to win around 20 games overall.

Still, this will be an uphill battle for the Islanders. They have not shot the ball well at all (27.7% from three), they turn it over a lot (13.3 turnovers per game), and they only have 23 assists as a team through three games, which is borderline insane.

They do have a deep roster, length on the wing, and decent athleticism. They've played 12 players in all three games, and they have a 6'10" freshman center who impressed in their game against Dallas Christian, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him play more.

This is a death by a thousand cuts team. No one is averaging more than 10.3 PPG. Everyone who has played has scored. Their leading scorer, Desmond Kent Jr., has come off the bench in all three games. Khi Wallace scored 18 points last game, but had 8 points in their loss to Texas State, and none in their win over Louisiana.

The Islanders are just one of those teams where you have to keep everyone from driving, use your length against them to keep shots at the rim and any kick-outs tough, and get a rebound. I wouldn't worry as much about who has the ball, as they all want to get downhill.

Daniel Michelini-Jackson is a shooter to watch out for, though. He was a decent three-point shooter last year and is 6/13 from deep to start this season. No one else on the team has taken more than 8 shots from deep.

Beau Billingsley is arguably their greatest playmaker, and he comes off the bench. Bin Basil, Khi Wallace, and Jordan Mizell will attack the offensive glass, and this is a good rebounding team in general. Florida State will have to make an extra effort on the glass, and they'll need to avoid fouling on those rebound opportunities. The Islanders shot 32 free throws in their win over Louisiana.

While they do pass the ball around, it's mainly in motion to try to get someone downhill, not as much to set up an open look. They've got some athletes with long wingspans, but they do play recklessly at times.

Florida State Seminoles Breakdown (2-1 Overall)

It's disappointing to lose to Florida for the sixth straight year. It was a hard-fought contest, but sometimes, the team with more experience playing alongside each other is going to win out, and that's what happened. A lot of people pointed to the massive free-throw differential, but FSU fouled a lot, especially a lot down the stretch, so that doesn't bother me as much.

What bothers me is simply not making shots, because that's something that can carry throughout the season. I was concerned about their three-point shooting heading into the season, and they haven't really done anything to ease that concern yet. Really, Tuesday's loss only heightened that concern.

We've also gotten both sides of the Shon Abaev experience. We've seen him be exceptional against LSU and Troy, fine against Florida A&M, and pretty bad against Florida. He is the X-Factor. The Seminoles could have a really strong season if they find a way for him to be more consistent game to game.

Florida State's next five games are against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Ball State, Green Bay, UNC Asheville, and West Florida. This is the perfect time to get some of the freshmen (Martay Barnes and Brandon Bass Jr., specifically) up to speed, to find some confidence from three, and for Abaev to find a consistent rhythm.

Projected Starters

Florida State

G: Anthony Robinson II
G: Kameron Taylor
F: Shon Abaev
F: Sebastian Rancik
C: Marcis Ponder

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

G: Jordan Mizell
G: Isaiah Lewis
G: Daniel Michelini-Jackson
F: Dan Makuna
F: CJ Worsham

3 Keys to the Game

Collapse On Drives

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is not a three-point shooting team. They've taken a total of 47 three-pointers in three games and are only making 27.7% of them so far. They also don't really pass the ball to open players. They'll pass in the design of the offense, but a lot of it's designed to get downhill.

As a team, they have 23 assists and 40 turnovers through three games. Florida State has to take advantage of that, and they probably will.

Extra Effort on the Glass

Corpus Christi has been pretty good on the glass so far this season, bringing down 37% of their misses on the offensive end and holding teams to a 23% offensive rebound rate on the other side. That's impressive for a team with not much size. Texas State only snagged 7 offensive rebounds against them, while Louisiana had 5.

Florida State is a much better rebounding team this season. Florida was a tough test for them, but Florida will be a tough test for everybody in rebounding. FSU has to buckle up and keep Corpus Christi (especially guys like Khi Wallace, Bin Basil, and Jordan Mizell) off the glass.

Find Your Three-Point Shot

Florida State has not shot well from three this season, going just 19/73 (26%) overall. These next five games will be a great opportunity to find some confidence in their shooting.

Corpus Christi's three-point defense has been fine, allowing division-1 opponents to shoot 33.3% from deep, though Division II Dallas Christian made 9 of their 17 attempts from deep in a 40-point loss. They have some athletes with long wingspans, but FSU has to start hitting some threes at some point.

Game Prediction

Florida State is favored by 21.5 points over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, over/under of 147.5, per DraftKings Sportsbook.

How Florida State responds to an emotional loss will be one of the more fascinating storylines of the next few weeks. Last year, they lost by just two to Florida, then kind of struggled against UT-Martin in the next game. I'd like this to be a blowout, and it should be if everything goes as it should.

I do think Florida State will take care of business. Maybe they don't win by as much as they should or could, but enough to not make it feel that close throughout.