It wasn't that long ago that things were looking rough for the Florida State men's basketball team.

In mid-December, a four-game losing streak that included a blown 17-point lead to Georgia and double-digit-point losses to South Florida and SMU had the Seminoles sitting at 4-5 and potentially staring down another dismal season.

Since that point, the Seminoles have won four of their last five games. Especially the last week, FSU has looked like a team that has figured some things out.

After a convincing win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday, the Seminoles (8-6) outlasted a pesky Virginia Tech team Saturday to improve to 2-1 in ACC play.

While FSU is a good bit outside the top 100 in the NET rankings and will need to win the ACC Tournament in order to return to the NCAA Tournament, it's undeniable that last week was as close as the Seminoles have looked to the successful teams of their not-too-recent past as they have in awhile.

Exactly how far the Seminoles have come will be tested Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ACC Network) when they host Wake Forest (11-3, 3-0 in ACC), which enters on a nine-game winning streak.

FSU has started to look better on a few fronts, especially during this last week of success. For one, the team's defensive intensity has been far more consistent, a problem during many of the early-season stretches where the Seminoles struggled.

Just as important, though, is the fact that FSU's depth has been more available of late. Like all two-time transfers, Georgetown point guard transfer Primo Spears was ineligible at the start of the season. He missed the first eight games of the season before the NCAA backtracked its original ruling and made all multiple-time transfers immediately eligible.

He now has six games under his belt and is starting to look like the player FSU thought it was getting as he gains more experience. He's averaging 11.8 points and 1.5 steals per game.

Additionally, Brown transfer forward Jaylan Gainey has finally become available of late after missing an extended stretch to begin his FSU career. He transferred in ahead of the 2022-23 season, but was sidelined for the whole year due to a leg injury suffered during summer workouts.

Another injury caused Gainey to miss the start of this season, but the former Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year made his long-awaited debut vs. Georgia and has appeared in every game since.

Against Virginia Tech, he looked like he has played his way back into game shape, scoring 11 points (nearly double his previous season-high) in 12 minutes of action.

Even with Cam'Ron Fletcher sidelined once again due to another season-ending injury, FSU has been running a solid 12-deep rotation as the team's availability report has improved.

So it probably shouldn't come as much of a shock that this depth has paid off with a much more balanced scoring effort. FSU had 42 bench points in the win over GT and then 41 in the win over the Hokies.

"We've always tried to win games by committee..." FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said after the Virginia Tech win. "The way we play, we have to keep fresh bodies on the court so that we can stay in rhythm. Trying to push the ball offensively and being aggressive, picking up 94 feet defensively, at some point in time, you're fatigued. I thought (in the VT game) we had great contributions from our rotation because they gave the guys who started an opportunity to get rest and sustained our effort for the full 40 minutes. We didn't always play well, but I thought our effort was always good."

Hamilton doesn't seem to have a problem with the fact that FSU's attendance numbers for home games have dwindled from what used to be regular sellouts not too long ago. He knows full well why that's the case as his team has struggled of late.

He's hopeful that FSU's recent run of success and the fact that the students are back in town with the spring semester now underway can help create a more hostile atmosphere for Tuesday's game against the Demon Deacons.

"We've always had tremendous support here on campus, but we've been a little inconsistent. We've got to give the people something to cheer about," Hamilton said Saturday. "I've been so grateful for the fans, even over the holidays, who came out to see us. We've always had a great relationship with our fans and student body. Hopefully, they'll catch on with the fact that we're improving in every game and we want to make it tough (to play at FSU), get back to that winning streak we enjoyed five or six years ago."

FSU men's basketball vs. Wake Forest

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee

TV: ACC Network

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