Loyola Marymount Lions vs. Florida State Seminoles Prediction & Game Preview - 11/21/2021

Time: 5:30 p.m. ET

Venue: UNF Arena, Jacksonville, FL

Where to watch: CBS Sports Network

DraftKings: Florida State -8

BetMGM: Florida State -7.5

Caesars: Florida State -8

Loyola Marymount: 2-1

Florida State: 2-1

Loyola Marymount: won 82-63 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock

Florida State: won 59-54 vs. Tulane

The Florida State Seminoles and Loyola Marymount Lions will begin play in the Jacksonville Classic on Sunday when they meet at UNF Arena in Jacksonville.

These college basketball tournaments always bring out a unique matchup between programs. This will only be the third matchup between the Seminoles and Lions, with FSU having won the first two matchups; the last meeting came back in 2011 with Florida State winning by 16.

So we really don’t have a lot to go off of when it comes to dissecting this matchup, but what can be determined is that Florida State is off to a questionable start to begin the season. Coming off a 16-point loss at the Florida Gators on Sunday, the Noles escaped Wednesday with a five-point home win against the Tulane Green Wave.

Caleb Mills led FSU with 13 points, and Florida State shot only 40 percent from the floor while missing 16 3-point attempts. FSU’s defense, which has been a calling card at that program for years, held Tulane to just 29.1 percent from the floor and were aided by Tulane missing seven free throws.

The good news for Florida State is their first six games are all in Florida. They won’t travel out of the Sunshine State until Nov. 30 when they face the Purdue Boilermakers.

This will be LMU’s first trip out of Loyola this season, however. The Lions are coming off a 19-point victory against the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans in which leading scorer Joe Quintana led them with 25 points for his second straight 20-point game; he scored 26 against Arizona Christian last Saturday.

The redshirt senior is fourth in the nation at 4.67 made threes per game, which is also tops in the WAC at this early part of the season. Rest assure, though, that Quintana will be the one getting the ball a bulk in this game. Eli Scott and Cameron Sehlton also added 11 points in the starting lineup, and all but one LMU player scored.

Loyola shot 54 percent from the floor and making six more 3-pointers helped in the case of them only winning the rebounding battle 29-17 against the Trojans.

This is going to be a game predicated on turnovers. Both teams force about 16 per game and will be active defensively. Florida State’s defense gave Tulane enough trouble to where just 59 points won them that game. LMU is going to need someone else besides Quintana to step up. He’ll be doing everything between scoring and on defense (six steals), that someone will need to score. I’m not sure if that’s going to happen here. Florida State by 12

LMU is 6-1 ATS in their last seven after covering the previous game.

LMU is 5-1 ATS in its last six overall.

The under has cashed in Florida State’s last four following an ATS loss.

Florida State is 1-5 ATS in its past six after allowing 55 points or less the previous game.

PG: Joe Quintana

SG: Cameron Shelton
SF: Kwane Marble III
PF: Eli Scott
C: Keli Leaupepe

PG: Caleb Mills

SG: Rayquan Evans
SF: Anthony Polite
PF: Wyatt Wilkes
C: Malik Osborne

Points: Joe Quintana -- 20.0

Rebounds: Eli Scott -- 7.3

Assists: Cameron Shelton -- 3.7

Points: Malik Osborne -- 15.0

Rebounds: Malik Osborne -- 9.7

Assists: Rayquan Evans -- 3.3