Western Carolina @ Florida State preview

The only Power Five school in the nation to open with two true road games against Power Five teams, Florida State made an early and emphatic statement Sunday, going into Gainesville and shutting down No. 6 Florida 63-51, the sixth straight time the Seminoles have defeated their archrivals. The schedule now gets a bit easier for the Seminoles, beginning with Friday's home matchup with Western Carolina.

"Our kids were locked in," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton told reporters after the huge win. "We feel very fortunate to come in here and steal one." Sophomore guard Devin Vassell led a balanced Seminoles attack with 13 points, followed by M.J. Walker with 12 but the real difference was a defense that completely stymied the Gators, limiting them to 28 percent shooting from the floor and 18.2 percent from beyond the arc. The performance took some of the sting out of the Seminoles' season-opening loss to Pittsburgh, when they lost a nine-point lead amid a flurry of whistles that sent the Panthers to the line 19 times in the second half. Western Carolina comes in off back-to-back home victories over Gardner-Webb (71-59) and North Carolina A&T (90-64), although the Catamounts opened the season with a road loss to Georgia.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports South

ABOUT WESTERN CAROLINA (2-1): Redshirt junior guard Mason Faulkner, who leads the team in scoring (18.7) and assists (20) in his first season with the Catamounts, did it all against North Carolina A&T on Tuesday, recording the school's first triple-double since it began Division I play in 1976-77 as he totaled 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Junior Matt Halvorsen topped the team with 17 points in the win, followed by Onno Steger with 16 and Carlos Dotson with 14 as the Catamounts were on fire from deep, nailing 15-of-28 3-pointers. Led by Faulkner and Dotson, Western Carolina dominated the boards the last two games and the team has produced at least 39 rebounds in each contest.

ABOUT FLORIDA STATE (1-1): Vassell is the only Seminole to score in double figures in both games thus far and is tied with junior guard Trent Forrest for the team scoring lead (13.5 ppg), but no other player is averaging in double figures. The team is shooting just 38 percent, but the defense is allowing opposing shooters to hit just 29.7 percent of their shots, seventh best in the nation. "Just watching Kentucky and them losing ... we've got to come in every game and be ready to play as hard as we can," Vassell said.

TIP-INS

1. The Seminoles have hit 31-of-38 free throws (81.6 percent), 17th best in the country.

2. Florida State will play four straight nonconference games at home, where they've won 32 straight in the Donald L. Tucker Center outside of ACC competition.

3. Led by Malik Osborne (4) and Patrick Williams (4), the Seminoles have a huge 11-5 advantage in blocked shots in two games.

PREDICTION: Florida State 77, Western Carolina 60