Halftime Report
A win for California would push their record over .500, and after one quarter of play they’ve put themselves in a good position to make it happen. They have jumped out to a quick 37-33 lead against Florida State.
If California keeps playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 10-9 in no time. On the other hand, Florida State will have to make due with a 13-6 record unless they turn things around (and fast).
Who’s Playing
Florida State Seminoles @ California Golden Bears
Current Records: Florida State 13-5, California 9-9
How To Watch
What to Know
California will be in front of their home fans on Wednesday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They and the Florida State Seminoles will face off in an ACC battle at 9:00 p.m. ET at Haas Pavilion. The Golden Bears are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 75 points per game this season.
California will head into Saturday’s matchup on the come-up: they were handed a 26-point defeat in their previous outing, but they didn’t let that bad energy affect their game against North Carolina State on Saturday. California skirted past North Carolina State 65-62. For those keeping track at home, that’s the closest victory the Golden Bears have posted since February 17, 2024.
California’s success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but DeJuan Campbell led the charge by posting 13 points. The dominant performance also gave Campbell a new career-high in field goal percentage (80%). Another player making a difference was Mady Sissoko, who had ten points in addition to five rebounds and three blocks.
Meanwhile, Florida State was able to grind out a solid win over Georgia Tech on Saturday, taking the game 91-78.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Florida State to victory, but perhaps none more so than Malique Ewin, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Taylor Bol Bowen, who went 7 for 9 en route to 20 points.
California’s victory ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 9-9. As for Florida State, they pushed their record up to 13-5 with the win, which was their third straight at home.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. California hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 75 points per game. However, it’s not like Florida State struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 78.7. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Not only did both teams in this Wednesday’s game win their last matches, they also took care of their bettors and covered the spread. Going forward, Florida State is expected to win a tight contest, barring any buzzer beaters. This will be their first time playing as the favorites on the road this season.
Odds
Florida State is a slight 1-point favorite against California, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Seminoles as a 1.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 151 points.
See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.