Florida State Finds Its Identity in Grit: Defense, Rebounding, and a Renewed Edge
NOTRE DAME, IN - The message from Florida State head coach Luke Loucks has been clear: defense and rebounding win games. And lately, the Seminoles have taken that message to heart.
Heading into Saturday’s matchup against Notre Dame at Purcell Pavilion, Florida State has strung together two straight wins and three victories in its last four outings. Momentum is building-and it’s not just about the wins, but how they’re getting them.
This isn’t the same Florida State team that leaned heavily on its offensive firepower early in the season. Instead, the Seminoles are grinding out games with a renewed focus on the fundamentals: locking down defensively, battling on the glass, and playing with urgency on every possession.
In their recent ACC wins over Miami, Cal, and Stanford, the Seminoles have held opponents to just 68 points per game-nearly 12 points below their season average-and limited them to a combined 42% shooting from the field. That’s a dramatic shift for a team that entered the year expecting to run-and-gun its way through the conference.
But Loucks and his staff saw something else: a team capable of winning ugly.
Take the Cal game, for example. The Seminoles clamped down in crunch time, allowing just one field goal in the final 4:14 and shutting the Bears out entirely over the last 2:27.
During that same stretch, FSU won the rebounding battle 8-5, none more important than Lajae Jones’ offensive board with 10 seconds left. Up 62-61, Jones grabbed the miss off a Kobe MaGee three-point attempt, got fouled, and iced the game with a clutch free throw.
That rebound wasn’t just a stat-it was the moment that sealed the win.
“The two things that won us the game were Lajae stepping up and grabbing big-time rebounds and our defense down the stretch,” Loucks said after the game. “That’s what it came down to.”
The numbers back it up. Against Cal, FSU pulled down 42 rebounds to Cal’s 41.
But it wasn’t about the total-it was about the timing. They got the boards when it mattered most.
And it’s not just one game. Against Miami, a team averaging nearly 85 points per contest and ranking third in the ACC in scoring, Florida State held the Hurricanes to just 61 points on their home floor.
That’s 24 points below their season average. The Seminoles forced Miami into 42.1% shooting overall-and just 28.6% in the second half-while generating 12 steals and seven blocks.
It was a gritty, physical performance that showed this team can win when the shots aren’t falling.
“Going into the season, we thought we’d be a high-scoring team that lived on threes and transition,” Loucks said. “But we just won a game 65-63, and it was all about defense.”
That’s a major identity shift-and one that’s translating into wins.
Another area where the Seminoles have made a noticeable leap? Discipline.
Over their last four games, they’ve cut their fouls down to 15.5 per game and limited opponents to just 11.3 points per game from the free throw line. That’s a big improvement from the first five ACC games, where they were giving up nearly 15 points per game at the stripe while committing 17.8 fouls per contest.
Against Stanford, they hit their ACC season-low with just 12 fouls and allowed only six points from the line. On the other end, they were aggressive and efficient, knocking down 23 of 29 free throws-good for nearly 80%.
That kind of effort at the line has been a quiet but critical factor in their recent success. It was the fifth time this season they’ve hit the 20+ mark in made free throws, and it’s becoming part of their formula.
“We’ve worked every day on rebounding, transition defense, and our shell defense,” Loucks said. “We’ve put the focus there, and it’s starting to show. Our guys are playing more freely on offense because they know we can still win even when the shots aren’t falling.”
And that’s the key. This team has started to embrace the grind.
They’re not relying on hot shooting nights or flashy plays to get the job done. They’re defending, rebounding, and closing games with toughness.
As they prepare to face a Notre Dame team they’ve beaten five straight times-including two in a row on the road-the Seminoles are starting to look like a team that knows exactly who it is.
And that identity? It’s built on grit.