With two more wins this week, including an overtime thriller over No. 6 Duke, the Florida State men's basketball team has now won five straight games and is 12-5 overall and 5-2 in the ACC.
But there's another streak that will be at stake this afternoon in Coral Gables against Miami. One that the Hurricanes are desperate -- and that is the appropriate word — to end.
With the Seminoles' one-point win over their in-state rivals earlier this month, thanks to two huge free throws by RayQuan Evans with 0.8 seconds left, they have now won eight straight games in the series.
If they make it nine in a row, they'll improve to 6-2 in conference and stand alone atop the ACC standings. So, yes, this is a pretty big game for January.
"We don't want them to have a mental edge," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said of the Hurricanes. "But I'm sure no one wants to lose to someone nine times in a row. So, that's going to be an added motivation for them."
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The last time Miami beat Florida State was Jan. 7, 2018.
Since then, the Seminoles have won by nine points (in overtime), six points, 12 points, four points (in overtime), 18 points, 22 points, 17 points and one point.
The two blowout wins last year were against a Miami squad that was besieged by injuries.
But as the Hurricanes (14-4, 5-1 in the ACC) proved in the Tucker Center earlier this month -- as well as a road win at Duke and a blowout win over North Carolina on Tuesday night — they are a whole different animal than they were a season ago.
"They've proven they are an outstanding team," Hamilton said. "They've been on an unbelievable roll."
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The Hurricanes were up on the Tar Heels by 27 points at halftime on Tuesday night and cruised to a blowout win over the perennial ACC power.
They are led by veterans Kameron McGusty and Isaiah Wong, who average 18.4 points and 18.1 points respectively. But they aren't a two-man show by any means.
Grad transfer Charlie Moore is averaging 12.5 points per game and scored 20 against FSU on Jan. 11, including a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds.
And fellow senior Sam Waardenberg is averaging 7.9 points per game, but had a career-high 21 points (on 5-of-6 from 3-point range) against North Carolina on Tuesday.
"They seem to be playing better and better every time I watch them play," Hamilton said.
And because he's had to play them twice in less than two weeks, that's been a lot of times here recently.
Hamilton was asked what the advantages or disadvantages are of playing a team twice in such quick succession.
"Sometimes it's a plus, sometimes it's not," he said. "They've realized they're a good basketball team. Obviously, we blew them out by one point in Tallahassee. So, they know the game could have gone either way on our court. And we know it, too. So, it's going to be a team that's really, really determined against another team that's really, really determined.
"It has all the makings of a good basketball game."
Tip-off is at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
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