ChantRant.com

Noles down Terps, even ACC record at 4 - 4

Game report by Bill From Tampa

Florida State shot lights out all game long pulling away
in the second half with intensified defense to defeat the Maryland Terrapins 96-79.

In producing its highest point total of the season so far, FSU shot 62% from the floor, 8-17 (47%) from behind the arc, and was 14 of 16 from the free throw line.

It was a shooting exhibition lead by Al Thornton’s 27 points that had Maryland’s Gary Williams visibly upset at his team’s defensive effort during a timeout.

Williams said in his Monday ACC press conference that Thornton was a player that could beat you in many ways.

Thornton gave Williams a close up look at that ability with an array of mid-range jump shots, three pointers, layups, and slam dunks. It didn’t matter who the Terps head coach put on him, the All American candidate faced up, dribbled past, or posted up his Terrapins almost at will.

The Seminoles also put three other players in double figures.

Jason Rich reached a new career high with 24 points missing just two of his twelve shots. Toney Douglas took over at the end scoring 9 of his 16 in the last 5:11. Isaiah Swann added 15.

“I thought the guys came out extremely focused and ready to play,” Leonard Hamilton said afterwards. “They rose to the occasion.”

Hamilton complimented his entire squad’s efforts making mention that “everyone who played contributed.”

Indeed it was a team effort as FSU was able to do just about anything it wanted on offense and controlled the boards, something the ‘Noles have not been able to say often this season. The Seminoles dominated the rebounding 33 to 19 including 12 offensive boards.

Hamilton joked later that shooting 62% doesn’t leave much opportunity for many rebounds, however.

Maryland had two leads in the game, both in the first half. The first was 2-0. The second James Gist’s shot from just inside the arc from the left corner giving the Terps a 25-24 advantage.

That caused an irritated Hamilton to call timeout to give his team an earful about their defense.

While the defense didn’t exactly shut down Maryland, FSU’s offense was unstoppable with Thornton’s turnaround fade away jumper giving the lead right back.

Douglas’ runner with six seconds left gave the ‘Noles a 49-46 margin at the half.

The highlight play of the half was a 2 on 1 break with Rich passing to Douglas who passed back to Rich completely turning the defender around, giving Rich the easy layup.

FSU took control early in the second half with a 12-2 run. Thornton and Rich attacked the rim and Swann added the rare four point play as he made a three when fouled by DJ Strawberry. It was the second four point play of the game for Swann.

Thornton’s drive and hop to the basket on a 3 on 2 break during the run brought cheers from the 8,894 in attendance and even more looks from the NBA scouts in attendance.

Just to make his case stronger for being a high draft pick, Thornton knocked the ball away and went the distance for the slam dunk giving FSU a 70-53 lead.

The ‘Noles experienced a brief cold streak for almost three minutes while Maryland pulled to within nine points, 79-70. A left handed layup by Thornton ended that run and for that matter any realistic chance for the Terrapins to pull out the game.

Gist led the Terps with 23 points with Greivis Vasquez adding 13 and Ekene Ibewke scoring 10.

While the Seminoles gave up those points to the Terrapin post players the key for FSU was holding leading scorers Strawberry and Mike Jones to a combined 16 points, showing that not all was bad with the ‘Nole defense.

Next up for FSU is Duke on Sunday at Cameron Indoor where the ‘Noles have never won. Tip off is at 2:00 PM.

CLEMSON COUNTDOWN: An early preview of the Tiger team FSU will face on Labor Day

Seven months to go and a lots of questions to be answered before FSU and Clemson tee it up on September 3rd. For the early 4-1-1 on the Tigers, we quizzed the guys at Danny Ford is God, a CU site that's feisty and fun. Here's the way two orange and purple bleeding Tiger faithful see their team shaping up.

ChantRant: With your only experienced QB, Will Proctor, graduating, who'll be under center?
DFIG:  Right now, the QB depth chart is set at Cullen Harper then Tribble Reese with Michael Wade inches behind him.  Lastly, freshman QB Willy Korn (pictured below) is set as fourth on the depth chart.  Come spring practice however, a lot could be changed around. Korn is already enrolled, taking classes, and working out with the team.  His high school ran the same offense so come Labor Day, he could have a real good chance at starting. 

Korn, a 6'2" native of Lyman, SC, is the #1 dual-threat quarterback in the nation according to Rivals.com. He was also the Gatorade Player-of-the-Year in South Carolina as a junior and senior. He threw for 10,716 yards and 125 touchdowns in his career in leading James F. Byrnes High to two state championships. A five-star prospect by Scout.com, Korn also holds the state single-season record for passing yards (4,164), completions (281), and touchdown passes (53), numbers he established in 2005. He played in the 2007 US Army High School All-American game for the East team in San Antonio, TX earlier in January.

ChantRant: Is Jacoby Ford the go-to guy this year?
DFIG: Jacoby Ford (pictured at right), in terms of special teams, will be the go to guy along with running back CJ Spiller, if Spiller does indeed stick around. In his wide receiver role, yes, he's a guy that needs to step up. More importantly, receivers Aaron Kelly and Rendrick Taylor need to step up the most. Kelly is more of a jump ball guy that reminds me of a Kevin Youngblood or Derrick Hamilton, if you remember those guys from the 2003 game in Death Valley. Although he's a tough guy, one tough shot can get him rattled and he stops becoming a presence. Taylor constantly battles injuries because he is a beast and puts it all out there. He's a little creaky on the mechanics, kinda looks like a bull in a china shop when he runs routes, but he makes up for it with size, strength, and catching ability. Kelly and Taylor need to step up more than Ford does. We'd say that as of right now, Tyler Grisham is our best all around wide receiver.

ChantRant: Will Clemson rely heavily on the running of Siller & James, especially the first game?
DFIG: Yes, expect screens, screens, and more screens. Any kind of screen you can think of, Spence (Off. Coordinator) is going to use it. Probably involving Spiller because he's shiftier. Also, look to see Spence to continue to run it like last year. With the line we have this year though, don't know if we'll be able to run it as well. They are supposed to be way more talented than the '06 line was this time last year, but they are largely unproven. We're also interested to see what Ray Ray McElratheby can do now that he's been moved to third string running back. Look for more fullback hand-offs in short yardage situations.

ChantRant: After losing four our of five OL starters, will guys with some experience be taking their place?
DFIG: As we said before, they're supposed to be better than last year's line, but they haven't played against good talent for the most part.

ChantRant: How good will the defense be after key losses like
sack artist Gaines Adams?
DFIG: With Ron West (LB coach who took a job on the West Virginia staff then decided to stay) not going anywhere, the only trouble we is at cornerback. Our D-line, although we lost Gaines, is teeming with talent. Clemson returned both safeties who were pretty good and held their own against some good teams. They rarely gave up a deep ball. We feel good about the linebacking core because Clemson has been known to churn out linebackers. They did just fine without Anthony Waters last year. CU returned pretty much the same guys in that group and returning in the LB department is Tramaine Billie. He got hurt before the season started last year and used a redshirt year. Before he got hurt he was running a sub 4.4 forty yard dash. The only big question is just that... A BIG DAMNED QUESTION MARK. We lose Duane Coleman, who was clutch and crucial, to graduation and we lost CJ Gaddis, who was a really hard hitter, to the draft. CJ wasn't as good as he thought he was because he had a ton of blown assignments at times he needed to keep cool. We look for at least Crezdon Butler to step up. Maybe Chris Chancellor on the other side. Tommy Bowden needs to hire a new defensive backs coach... or at least do something better in that department.

New schedule puts Noles at huge disadvantage vs. Wake in Thursday night showcase game

A.D. Dave Hart has put a positive spin on the just-released 2007 FSU football schedule, saying " This year is the toughest year we've ever had because it is the toughest schedule we've had since the early '80s...But I think the finished product is as good as we could possibly hope for."

Look closely, though, and see where ACC schedulers put FSU at a major disadvantage on Oct. 11, a Thursday night game at Wake Forest before an ESPN national audience.

In the two weeks leading up to that short turn-around, the Noles play Bama (9/29) and N.C. State (10/6). During those same two weeks, Wake has an open date, then plays at Duke — which many pundits would call another off-week. And while the ACC dictates that the home team in a Thursday night game must play on the road the week before, supposedly leveling the playing field, that short bus ride from Winston-Salem to Durham could hardly be called a road trip.

Bottom line: FSU plays the reigning ACC Champs — and a pre-season Top 25 pick — on the road, and on a Thursday night, after two of the Noles toughest opponents, and after the two easiest weeks on Wake's schedule.

Who made up this schedule, Ron Cherry?

Sept. 3 at Clemson (8pm Monday)
Sept. 8 UAB
Sept. 15 at Colorado
Sept. 22 Open
Sept. 29 Alabama (Jacksonville)
Oct. 6 NC State
Oct. 11 at Wake Forest (7:30pm Thursday)
Oct. 20 Miami
Oct. 27 Duke
Nov. 3 at Boston College
Nov. 10 at Virginia Tech
Nov. 17 Maryland
Nov. 24 at Florida

Early warning for Noles making the trip to Winston-Salem: Wake's football stadium will be in the middle of a major construction project, adding seats and suites.
You might want to bring a hard hat.

Eagles snatch win from Noles in final seconds

Game report by Bill from Tampa

Florida State shot 48% from the floor, connected on 8 of 17 three pointers, was nearly perfect from the free throw line missing just one of its 17 attempts, and dished out 17 assists while taking care of the ball with a season low seven turnovers. After all that the Seminoles still lost the game when Boston College guard Sean Marshall hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat FSU 85-82.

Unfortunately FSU's five players in double figures could not match the three big guns of the Eagles. Tyrese Rice shredded the ‘Noles defense time and again with circus like shots in the lane en route to scoring a game high 26 points. Jared Dudley pounded FSU underneath the rim as well adding 23. Marshall who was in foul trouble much of the game ended the game with 22.

After Boston College had to call timeout before getting the ball over the time line, Marshall received the inbound pass and dribbled quickly to the left of the key where he launched the game winner over the outstretched hands of two defenders.

The shot touched off a storm the court celebration by the students while Marshall ripped his jersey off.

Leonard Hamilton gave credit to Marshall saying “he hit a very, very tough shot that we contested.”

Despite the fine offensive performance, the game came down to the Seminole defense. FSU just could not get the stops it needed to late in the game as the Eagles scored on all eight of its possessions in the last four minutes of the game.

“We just needed more stops,” Hamilton said afterwards. “We mixed our defenses up and just was not as sharp with the various defenses we used. We didn’t rotate to the baseline very well and gave up too many second shots.”

“A defense just can’t give up 53% and expect to win a game” added the head coach.

Despite the end of the game, Hamilton was more disappointed with his team’s first half defensive performance.

“In the first half shots were not contested. We gave too many good looks to BC and had unnecessary fouls that weren’t hustle fouls. We took a couple of possessions off tonight.”

Al Thornton continued his stellar performance in league play leading FSU with 22 points along with 8 boards. Jason Rich also had a fine game scoring 15. Isaiah Swann added 13 along with 7 assists and Toney Douglas and Uche Echefu each had 10.

A tightly contested game the entire way, there were 17 lead changes and 10 ties.

FSU managed maintain a small lead for much of the first 12 minutes. An 18 foot jumper by Echefu gave FSU a 21-19 lead that touched off a flurry of seven lead changes over the next 3 ½ minutes.

BC took a 30-27 lead on two Dudley free throws.

FSU played catch up with the Eagles holding a small lead until the final 2.9 seconds of the half. Casaan Breeden’s two free throws gave the Seminoles a 41-39 lead.

BC quickly inbounded the ball to Marcus Haynes who was inexplicably fouled by Swann near the time line with .9 seconds left on a blocking call. Haynes sent the two teams to the locker room tied at 41.

The second half was not much different as the teams jockeyed back and forth. FSU started shaky, forcing Hamilton to call a timeout at the 18:37 mark after Douglas fouled Rice while taking a three point shot.

Marshall gave BC a 48-43 lead on a three. Echefu seconds later hit a three from above the key and erased the lead on another three from the right corner with Dudley running at him.

The Eagles twice stretched the lead to five when Rich’s driving layup between the screens of Ryan Reid and Thornton followed by an 18 ft jumper preceded Swann’s wide open three from the right corner to give FSU a 59-56 edge with 12:30 remaining.

Again BC took the lead back but not for long as the Seminoles exerted its will connecting on two straight three pointers. A turnover by the Eagles resulted in a Thornton slam dunk giving the ‘Noles its largest lead at 68-61 with 8:48 left.

FSU tried its best but could not hold off the Eagles slow chipping away at the lead.

Thornton’s runner in the lane at the 4:41 mark gave FSU a 74-69 margin.

But as they had done all game long, BC attacked the basket relentlessly getting acrobatic shots in the lane from Rice, offensive putbacks from Dudley and Marshall, or getting to the charity stripe.

An NBA three from Rice put BC up 79-78 with 1:18 to play. Thornton took the lead back with two points from the line. That was followed by Rice’s circus underhand flip as he dribbled past Douglas just below the free throw line.

Marshall made one of two free throws giving Douglas the opportunity to tie the game at 82 when he was fouled driving into the lane.

FSU slapped on a press that caused the Eagles some difficulty bringing in the ball. Even when they did get the ball in BC could not get the ball thru FSU’s press calling timeout before getting the ball over mid court.

That set the stage for Marshall’s heroics keeping the Seminoles winless on the road this season.

With the loss FSU drops to 14-6 and 2-4 in league play.

Hamilton said it was a “hurt and disappointed locker room” as the ‘Noles let an opportunity to get to .500 slip away after starting 0-3 in the ACC. The coach was optimistic though, commenting that FSU has “five games at home and five games on the road.” 

The Seminoles attempt to regroup against Wake Forest Saturday at the Civic Center. Tip off is at 4:00 PM. The game will be aired by Raycom.

Noles in Beantown versus league-leading B.C.

Game Preview by Bill from Tampa

Tip-off time 7pm at Silvio Conte Forum
TV: FSN

Records:
FSU 14-5 (ACC 2-3) 0-2 ACC road, 2-4 road overall
Boston College 13-5 (ACC 5-1) 2-0 ACC home, 10-2 home overall

Last Game:
FSU beat Miami 86-67; Boston College lost to Clemson 74-54

Key Stats:
Scoring offense – FSU 76 ppg (7th in ACC); Boston College 77.7 ppg (5th in ACC)
Scoring D – FSU 67.1 ppg (6th); Boston College 69.5 ppg (8th)
Free throws – FSU .777 (1st); Boston College .723 (4th)
Field goal % - FSU .486 (4th); Boston College .480 (5th)
Field goal % Defense – FSU .443 (11th); Boston College .425 (7th)
3-Point FG % – FSU .357 (7th); Boston College .327 (12th)
3-Point FG % Defense – FSU .311 (4th); Boston College .308 (3rd)
Rebounding – FSU 31.6 rpg (12th); Boston College 38.1 rpg (5th)
Assists – FSU 13.26 (12th); Boston College 15.94 (5th)
Steals – FSU 8.74 (5th); Boston College 7.17 (8th)
Turnover margin – FSU +2.95 (3rd); Boston College -1.06 (11th)

Leading Players:
Florida State
Al Thornton – 17.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, .551 FG %, .837 FT %
Toney Douglas – 13.5 ppg, 2.89 apg, .497 FG %, .412 3-pt %
Jason Rich – 10.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, .537 FG %, .800 FT %

Other players of note
Isaiah Swann – 8.24 ppg, 3.26 apg, last game 4-6 from 3-pt,
4 assists, no turnovers
Uche Echefu – 7.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, last game 3.6 from 3-pt
Bench scoring – 17.6 ppg

Boston College
Jared Dudley (F, 6-7, 225, SR) – 18.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg, .555 FG %,
.769 FT %
Tyrese Rice (PG, 6-1, 190, SO) – 16.2 ppg, 5.89 apg, .437 FG %, .763 FT %
Sean Marshall (SG, 6-6, 212, SR) – 16.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg,
.460 FG %, .366 3-pt %

Other players of note
John Oates (F, 6-10, 255, JR) – 4.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg
Shamari Spears (F, 6-4, 245, FR) – 8.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg
Bench scoring – 6.8 ppg

With the dismissals of leading shot blocker Seam Williams
(5 blocks per game) and Akida McLean, BC is down to a rotation of seven players. BC will now have to rely on more minutes from JR big man Tyrelle Blair who played at FSU High School. That is a significant drop off from Williams.

In addition Dudley has a stress fracture in his foot that caused him to miss three straight games earlier this month. How the foot holds up will be a question especially since Dudley played all forty minutes the last two games.

FSU will have to deal with the size and physical play of the Eagles and their flex offense. However BC will have to contend with the speed and quickness of the Seminoles and Thornton who scored 37 points at Conte Forum in last season’s only contest between the two teams. The Eagles won that game though 90-87 on the strength of Craig Smith’s 28 points and 14 rebounds.

BC could counter somewhat by going smaller and inserting the more athletic Marquez Haynes, a 6-3 guard.

Bowden on Amato, Carter, and who'll run the offense

More new coaches, more straight answers from Bowden. Wednesday on ESPN Florida, son Terry and Brady Ackerman asked many of the questions on the minds of Seminole fans. Combined with last week's interview on 790 the Zone in Atlanta (posted below), they paint a good picture of the most sweeping changes in the FSU program since Bowden arrived in 1976.

Slam Dunk: Noles breeze by Hokies for first ACC win

Florida State got a much needed ACC conference win, its first of the season, leading nearly from start to finish in beating the Virginia Tech Hokies by 82-73 Wednesday.

Al Thornton scored all of his 27 points in the second half dominating the boards as well with 13 rebounds in holding off a Tech charge. Thornton took just one shot in the first half while his teammates built a 39-23 halftime margin.

Leonard Hamilton said of Thornton’s performance “Al drew a lot of attention from their defense in the first half. That gave his teammates opportunities to score. When they went to that zone defense in the second half we were able to get the ball to him more. And Al went to the rim strong and got to the foul line.”

Thornton was almost perfect at the stripe in connecting on 10 of his 11 attempts.

The rest of the team was equally impressive shooting 31 of 34 for the game the addition of Andy Enfield obviously paying dividends.

“This game showed that we are capable of playing good ball” said Hamilton. “We came out extremely focused in the first half. We passed the ball well. We rebounded well. And we came in and out of our sets efficiently.”

“It was a great team effort with a lot of guys blocking out.”

That was reflected in the final stats with FSU ending up with a +7 margin on the boards including +5 on the offensive end.

“We had the right mindset” he added.

While Thornton’s heroics in the second stanza carried FSU to the victory, it was Toney Douglas that led the charge in the first half building that 16 point cushion. Douglas, who finished with 22 points, scored 14 in the first twenty minutes.

FSU started off very aggressively on both ends of the floor attacking the basket on the strength of Douglas’ dribble penetration and defensively forcing Tech into uncharacteristic turnovers.

After Jason Rich nailed a three pointer to give FSU a 13-5 lead, Tech head coach Seth Greenberg called a timeout just four minutes into the game.

After Douglas added two free throws, the Hokies settled down and worked the ball inside more effectively resulting in an 8-0 run including three slam dunks, two by Coleman Collins, to trail 15-13.

After the two teams traded three pointers FSU went on a 17-2 run with VT turning the ball over three straight times and coming up empty on seven shot attempts.

The Seminoles extended the 39-23 halftime lead when Thornton picked up his first basket of the game on a layup just seconds into the second half.

But VT switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense that caused the ‘Noles problems offensively. Three pointers were no longer dropping as they did in the first half and had difficulty in driving in off the dribble.

Tech slowly chipped away at the lead. Collins’ bank shot closed the score to 52-51 with 9:30 left to play.

That’s when Thornton took over. The All American candidate proceeded to score 14 of FSU’s next 16 points. The explosion culminated when FSU unbounded the ball past half court with just two seconds on the shot clock and Thornton canning the 40 foot attempt and sending the partisan crowd into pandemonium.

It was the only three point shot out of ten attempts in the second half. But it certainly came at the exact right moment.

His shot of the game gave the ‘Noles a 68-57 lead with just over four minutes remaining.

Tech was forced to foul often and FSU made the Hokies pay converting 10 of 10 attempts.

The Hokies got no closer than seven points when Deron Washington made a three in the last seconds of the game.

Isaiah Swann punctuated the victory with a slam dunk for the final margin.

The win kept the Seminoles’ streak of winning every game this season when leading at the half.

Zabian Dowdell led Virginia Tech with 23 points. He was joined in double figures by Washington with 18 and Collins with 15.

With the win, FSU improves to 13-5, 1-3.

Next up is Miami, Saturday at 2:00 PM at the Civic Center. The game is to be shown on Raycom.

Rumor du Jour: Jimbo to Georgia Tech if Gailey goes

It started as just some nutty gossip on message boards. But Sunday the buzz hit the mainstream media. Mark Bradley's column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution all but says Chan Gailey is out the door ("Gailey was never embraced at Tech"). And then asks rhetorically if Athletic Director Dan Radakovich's first call wouldn’t be "to Jimbo Fisher, the LSU offensive coordinator who just moved to Florida State?"

Meanwhile, Ramblin' Racket pulls no punches: "Now, the biggest question in the air for Tech isn't whether Gailey comes back. The biggest question is, if he leaves, who is he replaced with?"

Another Tech site insists "Rad would call Fisher". ("Rad" is short for Dan Radakovich, the Tech A.D. who was Asst. A.D. at LSU during Fisher's tenure, from 2001 through 2006.)

And posters at Sting Talk attempt to connect the dots:

"Insiders are saying D-Rad already has interviewed Jimbo Fisher, who apparently has an out in his contract with FSU to become coach at one school only — Georgia Tech."

    - "Fisher and Rad have already talked."

    - "Gailey's gone. Fisher is in."

    - "We shall know in the next 48 to 72 hours. A plan has been
put in place if Chan leaves."

We interrupt this fantasy to remind you that it's all R-U-M-O-R, in capital red letters. But in the bizzaro world of coaching, even the impossible can become possible. Three short weeks ago, insisting that Nick Saban would leave the Dolphins for Bama could have gotten you committed.

Bowden: About as up close and personal as it gets

It's the most candid, revealing interview we've heard with Bobby in quite some time — not to mention timely. It aired a few days ago on 790 The Zone in Atlanta, as Chris Dimino asked about the hiring of Fisher, details about Jeff stepping down, retirement, Bobby's philosophy of punishing players and lots more. Listen close and you'll even hear Bowden getting excited about the future ("We're fixin' to build it up again") with a revamped coaching staff. It all begins with a question about what Jimbo brings to the team.

Yellowjackets sting Noles, 88-80

by Bill from Tampa

What began as a promising start just like Leonard Hamilton envisioned, quickly evaporated as Georgia Tech went on an
18-4 run taking a lead the Jackets would never relinquish on its way to an 88-80 win over the visiting Seminoles.

The Noles’ pressure defense forced four Tech turnovers giving FSU eight points all in transition in the first four minutes while Tech was stuck on zero. The tide quickly turned however and FSU was the team now being pressured and began turning the ball over.

Jaravis Crittenten’s back to back three point plays on breakaways capped the18-4 run over the next four minutes and Tech never looked back.

It was a frustrated Hamilton as he reflected on the 18 total turnovers by his team. Calling it “a comedy out there” he added the number of mistakes made “would do most any team in.'

But as has been the case before this season it was the unforced miscues that irritated the FSU head coach. “I don’t know that they (Tech) had anything to do with it. We invented different ways to turn the ball over tonight,” he commented.

In a stretch in the second half that would qualify as very bad comedy saw FSU turn the ball over on seven straight possessions. Given that horrendous stretch it was amazing that the Noles weren’t down more as Tech scored only a handful of points during that period.

Crittenten led all scorers with 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Tech head coach Paul Hewitt posted up his freshman guard taking advantage of FSU’s smaller guards. The result was Crittenten making all five of his shots inside the arc.

Mario West who provided a spark late in the second half with his free throw shooting (9-13) added 18. Anthony Morrow who seems to enjoy playing the Seminoles scored 17 connecting on all three of his attempts from behind the arc. Thaddeus Young was also in double figures with 14.

As a team the Jackets shot 54% from the floor and 47% three pointers (10-21).

That kind of defense was another sore spot for Hamilton. “There was a period our defense did not play down and dirty. We did not stick with our defensive principles on five of their three point shots. That’s 15 points we gave away.”

Offensively FSU shot the ball well connecting on 51% including 8 of 16 three pointers. Toney Douglas led FSU with 22 points with 7 assists however his 5 turnovers stood out. Al Thornton scored 20 along with 6 rebounds. Uche Echefu added 14 points.

As FSU fans have seen before, the Noles got down by double digits three quarters of the way thru the first half and then had a spurt to close the gap. A 9-2 run made the score 35-22 with five minutes left. Three pointers each by Isaiah Swann, Jason Rich, a basket by Jerel Allen, and two free throws brought FSU to within four at 38-34.

Also, as FSU fans have seen before this season the momentum of the comeback disappeared when Morrow canned a three right before the buzzer to give Tech a 41-34 lead.

FSU held its own with the Jackets for the first four minutes of the second half trading baskets and trailing 46-40. And then the wheels completely fell off as the Seminoles could not stop giving the ball away on every possession over the next four minutes.

Thornton ended the drought and FSU almost stunningly trailed only 54-43 despite all the errors.

But the closest FSU could get was 63-57 at the 7:35 mark when a steal resulted in a layup by Swann.

The backbreaker occurred on Tech’s next possession. With the shot clock about to run out, Crittenten nailed a prayer of a three while falling down. Young followed with a layup and Ra'Sean Dickey stole a pass finished off by a Crittenton layup.

With Tech now leading 70-57, the game degraded into a free throw shooting contest with a combined 25 attempts to just three total baskets. That was obviously not going to allow FSU to catch up, especially when the Noles committed back to back fouls while the Jackets were attempting three point shots.

FSU never got closer than the final margin only when a flurry of baskets at the end made the game appear closer than the score indicated.

The 12-5, 0-3 Seminoles return to Tallahassee to face Virginia Tech, which defeated #1 North Carolina on Saturday in addition to beating Duke earlier this season. Tip off is at 7:00 PM and there is no TV for this game.