Luke Loucks' first season leading the Florida State Seminoles basketball team has gone off the rails in a major way.

The Seminoles (5-6) have lost their last five games, tied for the program's longest losing streak since a six-game skid in early 2022.

Desperate for a win, Florida State could find one in a matchup on Friday night in Tallahassee, Fla., against Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils -- the lowest-ranked of Division I's 365 teams in the NET rankings.

This could be a nice salve for the Seminoles. To put their struggles into a little more context, they are 5-0 against teams ranked lower than 200 in the KenPom.com ratings - but 0-6 against teams in the top 200.

Last time out, the Seminoles committed 30 fouls and had five players foul out in a 97-69 loss Tuesday at Dayton. Defense largely has been the team's bugaboo, with four of Florida State's last five opponents scoring 95-plus points.

The Seminoles are allowing 82.4 points per game, which ranks in the bottom 30 of Division I and better than only Providence (84.7 ppg) among major-conference teams.

"We have to find some grit and determination, bare minimum," Loucks said after the Seminoles' 103-95 neutral-court loss to UMass on Dec. 13. "We just don't have the talent to be the less-hardworking team. We have to outwork people. We have to do things together on the defensive end."

Robert McCray V leads Florida State in points (14.4) and assists (6.8) per game and has paced the team in scoring three of the last four games.

The Delta Devils (1-10) are on a nine-game losing streak and have not beaten a Division I nonconference foe since Nov. 18, 2022, against North Alabama.

Their last five losses have been by double digits and their first two matchups against major-conference opponents didn't go well, losing 120-84 on Nov. 25 at Texas A&M and 108-49 on Dec. 8 at Kansas State.

Michael James (20.6 ppg) and Daniel Mayfield (13.4 ppg, 6.7 rebounds per game) are the only two Mississippi Valley State players averaging double-figure scoring. They have combined to lead the Delta Devils in scoring in all 11 games this season.

James scored 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting last time out in an 88-64 home loss to Tarleton State on Tuesday. Mayfield did not play in the game.

The Delta Devils rank 358th in Division I in scoring defense through Tuesday's games, allowing 90.2 points per game.

--Field Level Media

Copyright 2025 STATS LLC and Field Level Media. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Field Level Media is strictly prohibited.