2011-12 Men's Basketball - Year In Review

Coaching Staff
Leonard Hamilton, Head Coach
Michael Bradley, Strength and Conditioning
Dennis Gates, Assistant Coach
Stan Jones, Associate Head Coach
Jacob Ridenhour, Director of Operations
Corey Williams, Assistant Coach

Click here for team picture

Click here to see individual photos
2011-12 FSU Basketball Media Guide


2012 Florida State Signees/Newcomers

Jeff Peterson, 6-1, 192, PG, Springfield, Mo.

Antwan Space, 6-8, 205, F, DeSoto, Tex.

Kiel Turpin, 6-11, 225, C, Normal, Ill.

Terry Whisnant, 6-3, 185, G, Cherryville, N.C.


2012 Roster - By Name

L
T                                                  PY
R No Name                  Pos     Hgt   Wgt  Cl   Ltr  Hometown (Prior School)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*  4 Deividas Dulkys       G       6-5   195  Sr   ***  Silute, Lithuania (Findlay College Prep)
*  1 Xavier Gibson         F-C     6-11  230  Sr   ***  Dothan, Ala. (Northview)
*  5 Bernard James         F       6-10  240  Sr   *    Savannah, Ga. (Windsor Forest/Tallahassee CC)
* 50 Jon Kreft             F-C     7-0   260  Sr   *    Coral Springs (Douglas/Chipola JC)
*  3 Luke Loucks           G       6-5   205  Sr   ***  Clearwater (Clearwater)
* 30 Ian Miller            G       6-3   190  So   *    Charlotte, N.C. (United Faith Christian Academy)
* 33 Joey Moreau           G       6-2   180  Jr   **   Bradenton (IMG Academy)
* 12 Jeff Peterson         PG      6-1   192  Sr        Springfield, Mo. (DeMatha Catholic/Iowa/Arkansas)
* 20 Rafael Portuondo      G       5-11  160  Jr   *    Miami (Columbus/Miami Dade CC)
  15 Terrance Shannon      F       6-8   220  Jr   **   Forsyth, Ga. (Mary Persons)
* 21 Michael Snaer         G       6-5   205  Jr   **   Moreno Valley, Calif. (Rancho Verde)
* 24 Antwan Space          F       6-8   205  Fr        DeSoto, Tex. (DeSoto)
  11 Kiel Turpin           C       6-11  225  Jr        Normal, Ill. (Normal West/Lincoln College)
* 31 Terry Whisnant        G       6-3   185  Fr        Cherryville, N.C. (Cherryville)
* 10 Okaro White           F       6-8   195  So   *    Clearwater (Clearwater)

2012 Roster - By Number

L
T                                                  PY
R No Name                  Pos     Hgt   Wgt  Cl   Ltr  Hometown (Prior School)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*  1 Xavier Gibson         F-C     6-11  230  Sr   ***  Dothan, Ala. (Northview)
*  3 Luke Loucks           G       6-5   205  Sr   ***  Clearwater (Clearwater)
*  4 Deividas Dulkys       G       6-5   195  Sr   ***  Silute, Lithuania (Findlay College Prep)
*  5 Bernard James         F       6-10  240  Sr   *    Savannah, Ga. (Windsor Forest/Tallahassee CC)
* 10 Okaro White           F       6-8   195  So   *    Clearwater (Clearwater)
  11 Kiel Turpin           C       6-11  225  Jr        Normal, Ill. (Normal West/Lincoln College)
* 12 Jeff Peterson         PG      6-1   192  Sr        Springfield, Mo. (DeMatha Catholic/Iowa/Arkansas)
  15 Terrance Shannon      F       6-8   220  Jr   **   Forsyth, Ga. (Mary Persons)
* 20 Rafael Portuondo      G       5-11  160  Jr   *    Miami (Columbus/Miami Dade CC)
* 21 Michael Snaer         G       6-5   205  Jr   **   Moreno Valley, Calif. (Rancho Verde)
* 24 Antwan Space          F       6-8   205  Fr        DeSoto, Tex. (DeSoto)
* 30 Ian Miller            G       6-3   190  So   *    Charlotte, N.C. (United Faith Christian Academy)
* 31 Terry Whisnant        G       6-3   185  Fr        Cherryville, N.C. (Cherryville)
* 33 Joey Moreau           G       6-2   180  Jr   **   Bradenton (IMG Academy)
* 50 Jon Kreft             F-C     7-0   260  Sr   *    Coral Springs (Douglas/Chipola JC)
8/9/2011 - Pierre Jordon transferred to Georgia Tech.

2011-12 Conference Awards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leonard Hamilton         Atlantic Coast Conference - Coach of the Year

Bernard James            Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference - Honorable Mention
                         Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Defensive Team
                         Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Tournament Team - 2nd Team

Luke Loucks              Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Tournament Team - 1st Team

Michael Snaer            Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference - 2nd Team
                         Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Defensive Team
                         Atlantic Coast Conference - Tournament MVP
                         Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Tournament Team - 1st Team

All-Conference -  4

2011-12 Noles in the Pros

Name                     No      Pos                Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Solomon Alabi            50      C                  Toronto Raptors
Toney Douglas            23      G                  New York Knicks
Ryan Reid                33      F                  Oklahoma City Thunder
Chris Singleton          31      F                  Washington Wizards
Von Wafer                1       G                  Orlando Magic

Noles in the Pros -  5

2012 Schedule and Results

               
GAME DAY
OPP EOY
DATE
POST
GAME
BOX
SCORE
LOC
OPPONENT
SCORE
NCAA
NIT
FSU
AP
FSU
USA
OPP
AP
OPP
USA
AP
UPI
11/11
Postgame
Box
H
Jacksonville
W 79-67
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11/14
Postgame
Box
H
Central Florida
W 73-50
 
 
25
24
 
 
 
 
11/16
Postgame
Box
H
Stetson
W 79-66
 
 
25
24
 
 
 
 
11/20
Postgame
Box
H
South Alabama
W 80-39
 
 
25
24
 
 
 
 
11/24
Postgame
Box
N
Massachusetts
Battle For Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
W 73-53
 
3
22
20
 
 
 
 
11/25
Postgame
Box
N
Harvard
Battle For Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
L 41-46
 
 
22
20
 
 
 
 
11/26
Postgame
Box
N
Connecticut
OT, Battle For Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
L 76-78
 
 
22
20
4
4
 
 
11/30
Postgame
Box
A
Michigan State
ACC-Big 10 Challenge
L 49-65
 
 
 
 
 
 
5
7
12/05
Postgame
Box
H
Charleston Southern
W 76-51
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12/11
Postgame
Box
H
UNC-Greensboro
W 75-60
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12/18
Postgame
Box
H
Loyola-Marymount
W 77-61
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12/22
Postgame
Box
A
Florida
L 64-82
 
 
 
 
11
12
25
9
12/30
Postgame
Box
H
Princeton
3 OT
L 73-75
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
01/04
Postgame
Box
H
Auburn
W 85-56
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
01/07
Postgame
Box
A
Clemson
L 59-79
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
01/10
Postgame
Box
A
Virginia Tech
W 63-59
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
01/14
Postgame
Box
H
North Carolina
W 90-57
 
 
 
 
3
3
4
6
01/17
Postgame
Box
H
Maryland
W 84-70
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
01/21
Postgame
Box
A
Duke
W 76-73
 
 
 
 
4
4
8
14
01/25
Postgame
Box
A
Wake Forest
W 75-52
 
 
23
 
 
 
 
 
02/01
Postgame
Box
H
Georgia Tech
W 68-54
 
 
21
24
 
 
 
 
02/04
Postgame
Box
H
Virginia
W 58-55
 
 
21
24
16
18
 
 
02/08
Postgame
Box
A
Boston College
L 60-64
 
 
15
17
 
 
 
 
02/11
Postgame
Box
H
Miami
W 64-59
 
 
15
17
 
 
 
 
02/16
Postgame
Box
H
Virginia Tech
W 48-47
 
 
20
21
 
 
 
 
02/18
Postgame
Box
A
North Carolina State
W 76-62
 
 
20
21
 
 
 
20
02/23
Postgame
Box
H
Duke
L 66-74
 
 
15
16
5
4
8
14
02/26
Postgame
Box
A
Miami
L 62-78
 
 
15
16
 
 
 
 
03/01
Postgame
Box
A
Virginia
W 63-60
 
 
22
22
24
 
 
 
03/04
Postgame
Box
H
Clemson
W 80-72
 
 
22
22
 
 
 
 
03/09
Postgame
Box
N
Miami
ACC, Atlanta, Ga.
W 82-71
 
 
17
17
 
 
 
 
03/10
Postgame
Box
N
Duke
ACC, Atlanta, Ga.
W 62-59
 
 
17
17
6
6
8
14
03/11
Postgame
Box
N
North Carolina
ACC Championship, Atlanta, Ga.
W 85-82
 
 
17
17
4
4
4
6
03/16
Postgame
Box
N
Saint Bonaventure
NCAA, Nashville, Tenn.
W 66-63
 
 
10
12
 
 
 
 
03/18
Postgame
Box
N
Cincinnati
NCAA, Nashville, Tenn.
L 56-62
 
 
10
12
 
 
 
18
EOY Stats Ref

Conference games in bold

                Overall   Home    Away   Neutral
------------------------------------------------
FSU record is    25-10   15- 2    5- 5    5- 3
vs ACC           12- 4    7- 1    5- 3    0- 0
Against Top 25    6- 3    2- 1    2- 1    2- 1

Final AP  - 10
Final USA - 15

2011-12 Atlantic Coast Conference Results
 1  North Carolina       14- 2    32- 6 
 2  Duke                 13- 3    27- 7 
 3  Florida State        12- 4    25-10 
 4t Virginia              9- 7    22-10 
 4t North Carolina State  9- 7    24-13 
 4t Miami                 9- 7    20-13 
 7  Clemson               8- 8    16-15 
 8  Maryland              6-10    17-15 
 9t Virginia Tech         4-12    16-17 
 9t Wake Forest           4-12    13-18 
 9t Georgia Tech          4-12    11-20 
 9t Boston College        4-12     9-22 

2011-12 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, Atlanta, Ga.
   Date                    Score                                    Comments
==========  ==================================================  ==================================
03/08/2012  (8)Maryland 82, (9)Wake Forest 60                   Round 1
03/08/2012  (5)North Carolina State 78, (12)Boston College 57   Round 1
03/08/2012  (10)Virginia Tech 68, (7)Clemson 63                 Round 1
03/08/2012  (6)Miami 54, (11)Georgia Tech 36                    Round 1
03/09/2012  (1)North Carolina 85, (8)Maryland 69                Round 2
03/09/2012  (5)North Carolina State 67, (4)Virginia 64          Round 2
03/09/2012  (2)Duke 60, (10)Virginia Tech 56                    Round 2
03/09/2012  (3)Florida State 82, (6)Miami 71                    Round 2
03/10/2012  (1)North Carolina 69, (5)North Carolina State 67    Round 3
03/10/2012  (3)Florida State 62, (2)Duke 59                     Round 3
03/11/2012  (3)Florida State 85, (1)North Carolina 82           Round 4

2011-12 - 30 Point Club

Name Date Opponent FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deividas Dulkys 01/14/2012 North Carolina 12 14 8 10 0 1 32

2011-12 - 15 Rebound Club

Name Date Opponent O-REB D-REB TOTAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bernard James 01/10/2012 Virginia Tech 9 6 15

2011-12 - 10 Assist Club

Name Date Opponent Assists ------------------------------------------------------------------ Luke Loucks 03/11/2012 North Carolina 13

2011-12 EOY Stats

                                                --3 Point---                            ----REBOUNDS-----
Name                 GP GS  Min  FGM  FGA  PCT  FGM FGA  PCT  FTM FTA  PCT  PTS  AVG    OFF DEF  TOT  AVG  PF DQ  AST   TO  BLK  STL
====================================================================================================================================
Michael Snaer        35 34 1065  167  383 .436   67 166 .404   88 104 .846  489 14.0     33  99  132  3.8  69  1   68   72   13   39
Bernard James        35 35  979  157  259 .606    0   0 .000   64 116 .552  378 10.8    107 176  283  8.1  68  0   16   73   82   26
Okaro White          35 12  790   91  191 .476   11  33 .333   76 101 .752  269  7.7     56  97  153  4.4 111  6   18   51   14   20
Ian Miller           24  0  565   83  209 .397   34  96 .354   48  62 .774  248 10.3     11  36   47  2.0  47  2   30   30    2   31
Luke Loucks          35 35  945   82  206 .398   32  93 .344   51  72 .708  247  7.1     16 100  116  3.3  69  0  152   89   12   42
Deividas Dulkys      35 23  856   82  194 .423   49 130 .377   32  40 .800  245  7.0     21  69   90  2.6  71  2   43   57   18   46
Xavier Gibson        35 35  646   92  193 .477    5  19 .263   50  74 .676  239  6.8     55  95  150  4.3  94  2   14   69   44   19
Jeff Peterson        34  1  535   42   99 .424    6  27 .222   17  31 .548  107  3.1      5  48   53  1.6  47  0   61   61    1   21
Jon Kreft            35  0  361   39   84 .464    0   0 .000   20  27 .741   98  2.8     31  50   81  2.3  47  0    8   39   22   10
Terrance Shannon      7  0  122   19   35 .543    0   0 .000   20  33 .606   58  8.3     11  20   31  4.4  11  0    5    9    4    5
Terry Whisnant       25  0  192   19   55 .345   11  40 .275    4   6 .667   53  2.1     10  15   25  1.0  12  0   12    6    0    6
Antwan Space         10  0   30    3   11 .273    0   3 .000    1   1 1.00    7  0.7      2   5    7  0.7   5  0    0    1    1    0
Rafael Portuondo      5  0    5    1    1 1.00    1   1 1.00    2   2 1.00    5  1.0      0   0    0  0.0   2  0    0    4    0    0
Joey Moreau           8  0    8    0    3 .000    0   3 .000    0   0 .000    0  0.0      0   1    1  0.1   0  0    0    1    0    0
Team                                                                                     46  58  104                     3
====================================================================================================================================
FSU                  35          877 1923 .456  216 611 .354  473 669 .707 2443 69.8    404 869 1273 36.4 653 13  427  565  213  265
Opp                  35          749 1965 .381  221 715 .309  482 674 .715 2201 62.9    430 738 1168 33.4 643 13  370  531  114  269

2011-12 Game Stats

Florida State 79, Jacksonville 67
11/11/2011, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor.

Familiar First Game: FSU Wins.

Buoyed by a strong defense through most of the game and superb bench play, the FSU men's basketball team moves to 10-0 in season-openers under coach Leonard Hamliton.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- The Florida State men's basketball team opened its 2011-12 season Friday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center in much the same way that it played last year during a run to the Sweet 16.

FSU picked up right where it left off late last March with a strong defensive performance in a 79-67 win over Jacksonville -- save a few sloppy final minutes against the Dolphins.

JU (0-1) didn't score a basket until 14:50 left in the first half and never recovered on the scoreboard despite a late-game rally. FSU -- the nation's leader the last two seasons in defensive field goal percentage -- held Jacksonville to 36.4-percent shooting in the first half but that mark increased to 42.4 percent for the game because of the visitors' 20-10 run after the 'Noles had built their largest lead of the night (22) with 7:49 remaining on the clock.

"We are going to get most team's best shot," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I am happy to come away with the victory. I will look at the film and see the areas where we need to improve."

It wasn't all defense Friday night, though. The Seminoles (1-0) showed off their impressive depth as the bench was responsible for 42 points. In contrast, Jacksonville's reserve players registered just six.

Starters Deividas Dulkys and Michael Snaer posted 16 points apiece and backup forward Terrance Shannon's career highs in both points (15) and rebounds (12) were enough to give him the first double-double of his career.

"Terrance was a guy tonight that I thought gave us all the hustle baskets," Hamilton said.

Xavier Gibson added nine points while Okaro White and transfer guard Jeff Peterson both had six points of their own. Luke Loucks had five points and six assists.

Bernard James was limited to just one point but Hamilton revealed in his post-game press conference that the senior star, who played just 15 minutes, tweaked his ankle earlier in the week and "was not himself."

With James hitting one free throw, each player that stepped on the court Friday night scored for the Seminoles.

"I said at the beginning of the year that we would win games by committee," Hamilton said.

As a team, the 'Noles shot 47 percent from 3-point range. Dulkys was 4-for-7 from behind the arc and Snaer was 2-for-3. FSU committed 15 turnovers to Jacksonville's 16 and out-rebounded its opponent 39 to 35.

The Seminoles, who went into halftime up 44-31, are now 10-0 under Hamilton in season-opening ballgames.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  18   1   6    0    2   7   8   9      2    2   4  2   1  3   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  26   2   4    1    2   0   0   5      0    2   2  2   6  2   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  15   0   3    0    0   1   2   1      2    1   3  1   0  1   0   1
10 Okaro White           f  14   3   5    0    1   0   0   6      2    4   6  5   0  1   2   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  32   5   8    2    3   4   4  16      0    5   5  1   3  4   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys          25   6  10    4    7   0   0  16      0    1   1  2   0  1   0   3
12 Jeff Peterson            20   1   2    1    2   3   4   6      0    1   1  2   1  1   0   1
15 Terrance Shannon         26   4   9    0    0   7  10  15      5    7  12  1   1  1   1   1
31 Terry Whisnant           10   1   3    0    0   0   0   2      0    1   1  1   1  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                14   1   4    0    0   1   2   3      0    1   1  4   0  1   0   1
   Team                                                           2    1   3                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  54    8   17  23  30  79     13   26  39 21  13 15   3   7
   Opp                     200  25  59    5   17  12  20  67     14   21  35 23  11 16   2   7


  1 2 Total
Jacksonville
31
36
67
Florida State
44
35
79
Attendance: 7,822

Florida State 73, Central Florida 50
11/14/2011, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com.

Ranked Seminoles Top UCF, 73-50.

Bernard James was limited in the 'Noles' season-opener with an injured ankle but he showed no signs of that ailment Monday night in FSU's 73-50 defeat of UCF.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- It may have been a bit delayed but Monday night the new and improved Bernard James made his highly anticipated debut for the Florida State men's basketball team.

After an ankle injury limited him to just one point in the Seminoles' victorious season-opener last Friday, a healthy James' career evening guided FSU to a 73-50 win over in-state foe UCF at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Seminoles played as a ranked team for the first time this season as they entered both national polls earlier in the day: No. 24 by in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and No. 25 in the Associated Press poll.

James, who spent the offseason working on developing his right hand and improving his free-throw shooting in anticipation of his second and final year in the garnet and gold, registered a career-best 18 points against the Knights (1-1) and added a career-high 11 rebounds.

And he wasn't alone in filling up the box score.

FSU (2-0) benefitted offensively from three starters in double figures -- including James -- as Xavier Gibson added 12 points and seven rebounds and Michael Snaer bounced back after shooting just 1-for-7 in the first half to score 15 points.

For the second game in a row, Terrance Shannon came off the bench and showed the improvement in his game as well. Shannon contributed 10 points and transfer guard Jeff Peterson gave a glimpse at what his addition to the 'Noles means with nine points.

While James and his teammates showed flashes of an offense that has the potential to be perhaps a bit more fluid and free moving than year's past, the defense was of course the same that it always is in Tallahassee: dominant.

FSU held UCF to 30.5 percent shooting from the field and just 20 percent from 3-point range. The Knights didn't do themselves any favors by hitting from the free throw line at a paltry 40-percent clip.

After finishing just plus-two in rebounding in the opening-game win against Jacksonville, the 'Noles crashed the boards much better in their second outing of the young season. FSU finished the night with a rebound advantage of 42 to 28.

The score was knotted at 10-10 with 11:37 left to play in the first half before Peterson broke open the scoring with seven consecutive points. UCF would never get any closer as FSU took a 29-21 lead into halftime and opened it up further in the second frame.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  20   5   9    1    1   1   2  12      3    4   7  4   0  2   1   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  20   0   3    0    2   0   0   0      0    1   1  0   2  2   0   1
 5 Bernard James         f  30   8   9    0    0   2   8  18      5    6  11  1   2  2   3   1
10 Okaro White           f  20   0   2    0    1   1   2   1      1    3   4  3   0  3   0   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  32   6  15    2    6   1   1  15      1    4   5  2   3  1   0   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys          25   0   4    0    4   2   2   2      0    2   2  1   4  2   0   3
12 Jeff Peterson            19   4   5    0    0   1   1   9      0    2   2  0   2  2   0   0
15 Terrance Shannon         20   3   5    0    0   4   7  10      2    4   6  3   1  1   0   0
20 Rafael Portuondo          1   0   0    0    0   2   2   2      0    0   0  1   0  1   0   0
31 Terry Whisnant            2   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
33 Joey Moreau               1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  1   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                10   2   3    0    0   0   0   4      2    2   4  0   0  2   2   0
   Team                                                           2    2   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  28  55    3   14  14  25  73     16   30  46 15  14 19   6   6
   Opp                     200  18  59    6   30   8  20  50     14   17  31 22   4 14   5   9


  1 2 Total
Central Florida
21
29
50
Florida State
29
44
73
Attendance: 7,655

Florida State 79, Stetson 66
11/16/2011, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com.

#24 FSU Halts Hatters, 79-66.

Bernard James, Deividas Dulkys and Okaro White each score in double figures and the Florida State men's basketball team moves to 3-0 on the season with a win over Stetson Wednesday night.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Leonard Hamilton said before the season ever started that his Florida State men's basketball team "would win games by committee."

Three games into the 2011-12 campaign and the head coach's sentiments have proved true. The No. 24 Seminoles defeated visiting Stetson 79-66 Wendesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center behind double-figure scoring from Deividas Dulkys, Okaro White and Bernard James.

It was the third time in as many games this year that FSU (3-0) got double-digit scoring from at least three players.

On a night when the 'Noles didn't protect the basketball particularly well against a pesky Hatters (2-1) team, FSU overcame 17 turnovers thanks to the efforts of the White-James-Dulkys trio that shot a combined 21-of-25 from the floor.

White's 18 points were just one shy of matching his career best and Dulkys was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range with 16 points. James' second-consecutive double-double output (15 points and 11 rebounds) moved Florida State to 6-0 all-time when the big man records double-digit points and rebounds in the same game.

Michael Snaer also added nine points and Xavier Gibson posted six points and seven rebounds. Jon Kreft contributed five points and Jeff Peterson registered a game-best seven assists.

For the game, the Seminoles shot a season-best 57.1-percent from the field while holding Stetson to 37.3-percent shooting and forcing 17 turnovers. FSU also out-rebounded the Hatters 34 to 32 and had five blocks.

The 'Noles built a 33-14 lead in the fist half before a 16-0 Hatters run threatened any advantage the home team might take into the locker room. But FSU closed the opening frame with a 9-4 run to maintain a 42-34 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Stetson kept it close but would never get closer than a 62-54 score with 9:28 remaining.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  14   2   4    0    1   2   2   6      2    5   7  0   0  2   1   2
 3 Luke Loucks           g  22   1   4    0    0   2   4   4      1    1   2  1   3  0   2   2
 5 Bernard James         f  28   7   8    0    0   1   2  15      2    9  11  2   0  1   2   0
10 Okaro White           f  29   8  11    0    1   2   2  18      1    2   3  2   1  2   0   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  27   3   7    0    1   3   3   9      1    3   4  1   2  4   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys          29   6   6    4    4   0   0  16      0    0   0  1   0  3   0   1
12 Jeff Peterson            20   1   4    0    1   0   0   2      0    1   1  1   7  1   0   2
15 Terrance Shannon         11   2   5    0    0   0   3   4      3    1   4  1   1  1   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            8   0   3    0    2   0   0   0      0    0   0  1   0  1   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                12   2   4    0    0   1   1   5      1    1   2  2   1  2   0   0
   Team                                                                2   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  32  56    4   10  11  17  79     11   25  36 12  15 17   5   9
   Opp                     200  25  67   10   33   6   9  66     19   15  34 14  14 17   0   8


  1 2 Total
Stetson
34
32
66
Florida State
42
37
79
Attendance: 6,424

Florida State 80, South Alabama 39
11/20/2011, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Loucks, Defense Shine In Win.

Luke Loucks scores 18 points and the defense registers 14 blocks in the No. 24 FSU men's basketball team's 80-39 win over South Alabama Sunday at home.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- South Alabama may have been the first out-of-state opponent to face the No. 24 Florida State men's basketball team at the Donald L. Tucker Center this season but the 'Noles' recipe for success was the same that it's been in wins over Sunshine State schools Jacksonville, UCF and Stetson.

In an 80-39 triumph over the Jaguars Sunday at home, FSU (4-0) rode its defense to victory while also getting double-digit scoring from multiple players on the offensive end.

The Seminoles, who finished their season-opening four-game home stand undefeated, held South Alabama to just 23.5 percent shooting from the field. Included in that defensive performance is the staggering statistic that the 'Noles forced the Jaguars into 0-of-24 shooting from 3-point range.

In addition to garnering more rebounds than their opponents -- Florida State grabbed 42 boards compared to South Alabama's 24 - the Seminoles connected for 14 blocks on the day and forced 16 turnovers with eight steals.

Offensively, Luke Loucks poured in a season-high 18 points from his point-guard position to go along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Terrance Shannon also continued his strong play, knocking down all six of the shots he took for 15 points with five rebounds and two blocks.

Deividas Dulkys added 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks.

The Seminoles' talented front-court duo of Bernard James and Xavier Gibson combined for just nine points on the day but the two big man had seven blocks between themselves. Okaro White and Jon Kreft both also added eight points apiece. Michael Snaer scored seven points of his own.

For the game, FSU shot 52 percent from the field.

Florida State generated a 27-10 run to close out the first half and took a 51-23 lead into the Tucker Center locker room before allowing just 16 second-half points.

The Seminoles will now play away from Tallahassee for the first time this season and their road trip takes them to along an international route. The Battle 4 Atlantis begins on Nov. 24 in the Bahamas when the 'Noles face Massachusetts. FSU then plays Harvard or Utah the next day before a final game on Nov. 26.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  20   1   2    0    0   1   2   3      3    3   6  1   1  1   4   1
 3 Luke Loucks           g  32   5  13    2    7   6   7  18      1    4   5  1   2  1   0   2
 5 Bernard James         f  21   3   3    0    0   0   0   6      2    6   8  2   0  4   3   0
10 Okaro White           f  21   2   5    1    4   3   4   8      2    3   5  3   0  4   0   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  28   2   6    1    3   2   2   7      0    3   3  2   1  3   1   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys          23   2   4    0    2   8   9  12      3    0   3  1   2  2   2   3
15 Terrance Shannon         19   6   6    0    0   3   4  15      0    5   5  1   1  2   2   0
31 Terry Whisnant           18   1   4    1    4   0   0   3      2    3   5  1   3  1   0   0
33 Joey Moreau               1   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    1   1  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                17   3   4    0    0   2   2   8      0    1   1  1   0  1   2   1
   Team                                                                4   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  25  48    5   21  25  30  80     13   33  46 13  10 19  14   8
   Opp                     200  16  68    0   24   7   8  39     19   12  31 21   8 16   0   5


  1 2 Total
South Alabama
23
16
39
Florida State
51
29
80
Attendance: 6,641

Florida State 73, Massachusetts 53
11/24/2011, Battle For Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

No. 20 FSU Gobbles Up UMass.

The Florida State men's basketball team celebrates Thanksgiving by beating the Minutemen, 73-53, in its opening game at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

NASSAU, BAHAMAS -- The No. 20/22 Florida State men's basketball team's defense doesn't care about national borders and isn't distracted by holidays.

They just play. And play well.

The Seminoles (5-0) defeated UMass, 73-53, Thursday in their opening game at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. Like they've done in four wins prior to their Thanksgiving game, it was the defense that set the tone.

Four days after South Alabama missed all 24 of its 3-point attempts against the 'Noles, UMass (4-1) didn't fare much better. The Minutemen, who had defeated Boston College 82-46 a few days ago, were just 2-for-23 from long distance and shot 27.9 percent from the field.

No starter scored in double figures for UMass and FSU forced 22 turnovers while registering nine blocks and 14 steals.

Junior Michael Snaer posted his first double-double of the young season with 18 points and 11 rebounds for a Seminoles team that struggled offensively at the Atlantis Resort. FSU finished the night shooting 35.1 percent from the field but nabbed 15 offensive rebounds.

Luke Loucks scored 12 points and Okaro White added 11 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double this year. Bernard James recorded nine points, five blocks and seven rebounds and Xavier Gibson had six points and seven boards.

Terrance Shannon came off the bench to contribute eight points.

Florida State, which outrebounced UMass 47 to 35, jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game before the Minutemen stormed back and took a 21-20 lead with 5:11 left to play in the first half.

But the 'Noles concluded the opening half on a 9-0 run to take a 36-25 advantage into the halftime break and then withstood UMass' full-court press in the second frame to remain undefeated.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  16   2   8    0    0   2   4   6      4    3   7  4   0  1   1   2
 3 Luke Loucks           g  34   4   6    0    1   4   4  12      0    3   3  3   3  6   0   4
 5 Bernard James         f  22   2   8    0    0   5   6   9      2    5   7  2   0  1   5   1
10 Okaro White           f  29   2   8    0    2   7   9  11      3    8  11  3   1  5   0   3
21 Michael Snaer         g  32   4  11    3    6   7   8  18      3    7  10  1   3  2   1   2
 4 Deividas Dulkys          13   0   0    0    0   2   2   2      0    0   0  3   0  2   0   1
12 Jeff Peterson            23   1   6    0    3   1   2   3      0    3   3  0   0  1   0   0
15 Terrance Shannon         16   3   3    0    0   2   4   8      1    0   1  3   0  3   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            2   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  1   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                13   2   7    0    0   0   0   4      2    3   5  2   0  2   2   0
   Team                                                           4    2   6                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  20  57    3   12  30  39  73     19   34  53 22   7 23   9  14
   Opp                     200  19  68    2   23  13  21  53     20   23  43 30   6 23   3  15


  1 2 Total
Florida State
36
37
73
Massachusetts
25
28
53
Attendance: 1,493

Harvard 46, Florida State 41
11/25/2011, Battle For Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

No. 20 FSU Upset By Harvard.

The Seminoles fall to the Crimson 46-41 in their Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals game Friday in the Bahamas.

PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS -- The No. 20/22 Florida State men's basketball team missed its first 15 shots and never recovered Friday evening in a 46-41 loss to a talented Harvard team in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

FSU's poor start from the field was a common theme in the opening 20 minutes that didn't get much better in the second half as the Seminoles and Crimson went into the halftime break tied at just 14-14.

In what was their first loss of the season, the Seminoles (5-1) shot 36.2 percent from the field -- a mark that typically would have still been OK for a team that plays such strong defense on a daily basis. The Crimson (5-0) shot even worse at 27.3 percent but went to the free-throw line 24 times and made 17.

In striking contrast, the 'Noles got to the line just 10 times and only made four of those freebie shots.

Junior guard Michael Snaer led Florida State in scoring for the second game in a row with 10 points. Luke Loucks had eight points and four assists and Xavier Gibson posted six points to go along with his six rebounds and four steals.

Bernard James and Deividas Dulkys scored five points apiece with James also tacking on six rebounds, two steals and three blocks.

The Seminoles were out-rebounded 36-26 by a Harvard team that didn't have any players score in double figures. Florida State turned the ball over 16 times and forced 17 Crimson turnovers.

Despite the loss, FSU still has a surprising opportunity to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume before returning stateside. Earlier in the day, UCF -- a team FSU beat earlier this month -- upset No. 4/4 UConn 68-63 to propel itself into the Battle 4 Atlantis title game against Harvard.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  20   3   8    0    0   0   2   6      1    5   6  2   1  2   2   4
 3 Luke Loucks           g  35   4   7    0    0   0   0   8      0    0   0  3   4  4   0   1
 5 Bernard James         f  32   2   8    0    0   1   2   5      3    3   6  3   0  3   3   2
10 Okaro White           f  20   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      0    3   3  4   0  1   0   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  30   4   9    2    3   0   0  10      1    3   4  3   0  1   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys          29   2   6    1    5   0   1   5      0    2   2  3   0  2   0   4
12 Jeff Peterson            13   0   3    0    0   0   0   0      0    2   2  2   0  2   0   0
15 Terrance Shannon         13   1   3    0    0   2   3   4      0    1   1  0   0  1   1   2
50 Jon Kreft                 8   0   1    0    0   1   2   1      0    2   2  1   0  0   1   0
   Team                                                           1    3   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  17  47    3    8   4  10  41      6   24  30 21   5 16   7  13
   Opp                     200  12  44    5   19  17  24  46     11   29  40 17   9 17   1  10


  1 2 Total
Florida State
14
27
41
Harvard
14
32
46
Attendance: 2,394

Connecticut 78, Florida State 76
11/26/2011, OT, Battle For Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Noles Drop 78-76 OT Thriller to UConn.

Michael Snaer leads the Seminoles with 20 points.

PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS - Shabazz Napier hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with a minute left in overtime and finished with 26 points, leading No. 4 Connecticut to a 78-76 victory over 22nd-ranked Florida State in the consolation game of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Saturday.

Napier also had five assists, four rebounds and two steals, bouncing back from the Huskies' 68-63 loss to Central Florida on Friday.

Jeremy Lamb added 19 points for Connecticut (6-1), which shot 48 percent from the field, including 11 for 25 from 3-point range. Andre Drummond had 12 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Michael Snaer scored 20 points for Florida State (5-2), which lost 46-41 to Harvard on Friday. Delividas Dulkys had 14, and Bernard James finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

James' three-point play gave the Seminoles a 76-75 lead, but Napier made his sixth 3-pointer of the game to put the Huskies back in front with 1:08 left.

Florida State's Luke Loucks missed a 3-point attempt and two free throws in the final minute, and Snaer missed a 3 at the buzzer, giving Connecticut the win.

The Huskies led 63-58 with 8:32 left in regulation but the Seminoles battled back. James had a dunk and Xavier Gibson made a 3-pointer to tie it at 65.

Connecticut blew a 17-point lead in the second half of its loss to Central Florida.

Jim Calhoun's team appeared to be headed to another frustrating loss before Ryan Boatwright made three free throws with seven seconds left to tie it at 71. Snaer then missed a last-second jumper, sending the game to overtime.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  21   4   5    1    1   0   0   9      1    1   2  4   0  4   0   2
 3 Luke Loucks           g  32   3   7    1    3   0   2   7      0    3   3  4   3  3   0   3
 5 Bernard James         f  34   4  11    0    0   3   3  11      5    9  14  2   1  3   1   0
10 Okaro White           f  21   2   3    0    0   1   2   5      0    2   2  0   1  1   0   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  38   5  14    2    8   8   9  20      1    1   2  3   0  4   2   2
 4 Deividas Dulkys          28   5   8    4    5   0   0  14      1    2   3  2   0  0   1   3
12 Jeff Peterson            24   2   4    1    2   0   0   5      0    1   1  3   4  1   0   1
15 Terrance Shannon         17   0   4    0    0   2   2   2      0    2   2  2   1  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                10   1   4    0    0   1   2   3      2    1   3  0   1  0   0   0
   Team                                                           2        2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 225  26  60    9   19  15  20  76     12   22  34 20  11 16   4  12
   Opp                     225  26  54   11   25  15  22  78     10   26  36 15  14 19   8   9


  1 2 OT Total
Florida State
30
41
5
76
Connecticut
37
34
7
78
Attendance: 2,500

Michigan State 65, Florida State 49
11/30/2011, ACC-Big 10 Challenge, East Lansing, Mich.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

'Noles Fall To Spartans, 65-49.

The Florida State men's basketball team can't avoid a loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game in East Lansing, Mich.

EAST LANSING, MI -- It may have been different weather and a different country, but the result was the same for the Florida State men's basketball team.

Four days after falling to No. 4 UConn, 78-76, in overtime in the Bahamas, the Seminoles lost a hard-fought game to Michigan State, 65-49, Wednesday night in East Lansing, Mich.

The 'Noles (5-3) traded sand for snow before playing in this year's edition of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and didn't forget to pack their defense for the trip north. FSU held the Spartans (5-2) to their second-lowest points output this season.

But as has been the issue in what is now a three-game losing streak, the Seminoles have struggled on the offensive end of the basketball court and have failed to get to the free-throw line on a consistent basis.

Against Michigan State, FSU turned the ball over 18 times and only had a season-low six opportunities from the free-throw line. The Spartans, on the other hand, gave the ball away 12 times and finished 15-of-20 from the charity stripe.

Bernard James posted a double-double, scoring 13 points -- 11 of which came in the first half -- and grabbing 12 rebounds. He also blocked three shots and took just two free throws.

Michael Snaer added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists and Jeff Peterson and Okaro White had seven points apiece.

Despite the defense's best efforts, the Spartans got a career-high 24 points from guard Keith Appling. Brandon Wood and Draymond Gibson also contributed 26 points apiece for the home team and Michigan State shot 40 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range.

FSU finished the evening with a shooting mark of 39 percent.

The 'Noles trailed by as many as eight points five minutes into the second half before tying the ballgame at 38-38 after two John Kreft free-throws with 12:12 left to play. White's lay-up off a Kreft assist then gave FSU its first lead since it was a 9-6 score a few minutes into the contest.

But MSU answered with a 10-2 run thanks to a Seminoles' scoring drought that lasted nearly six minutes and never looked back.

Michigan State lead 30-26 at halftime following an 8-0 run by Florida State to close out the first half.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  21   2   4    0    1   0   0   4      1    1   2  4   0  4   1   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  20   2   5    1    4   0   2   5      1    1   2  4   2  2   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  32   6  10    0    0   1   2  13      4    9  13  4   1  3   3   0
10 Okaro White           f  32   3   9    1    3   0   0   7      1    2   3  3   1  1   0   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  37   5  12    1    6   0   0  11      0    6   6  1   4  4   0   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys          23   0   5    0    4   0   0   0      0    1   1  1   0  0   1   1
12 Jeff Peterson            22   3   6    1    1   0   0   7      0    1   1  3   4  4   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            1   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                12   0   2    0    0   2   2   2      1    1   2  1   1  0   0   0
   Team                                                           3    1   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  21  54    4   20   3   6  49     11   23  34 21  13 18   5   3
   Opp                     200  21  52    8   19  15  20  65     13   22  35 11  11 13   8  10


  1 2 Total
Florida State
26
23
49
Michigan State
30
35
65
Attendance: 14,797

Florida State 76, Charleston Southern 51
12/05/2011, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Career Night For White.

Okaro White's career-best 20 points help the Florida State men's basketball team ends its three-game losing streak with a 76-51 win over Charleston Southern at home Monday night.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- On the heels of three consecutive losses on the road, the Florida State men's basketball team was in need of some home cooking.

Perhaps more importantly, FSU needed a renewed sense of intensity and energy.

The Seminoles got all three of those things Monday night as they returned to the Donald L. Tucker Center and defeated Charleston Southern, 76-51.

After falling to Harvard (then unranked but now in the top 25 for the first time in program history at No. 24), then-No. 4 UConn and Michigan State in consecutive games in which they averaged just 55 points, the 'Noles nearly hit that total by halftime against the Buccaneers (5-3).

The Seminoles (6-3), who moved to 5-0 at home this season, shot 48.4 percent from the field against CSU compared to the 39-percent shooting average they experienced in the trio of losses.

Sophomore forward Okaro White was behind that renewed offensive prowess. His 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point range surpassed his previous career high of 19 that he registered against Hawaii last season and went along with his seven rebounds and three assists.

In addition to White, three other FSU starters posted double-figure scoring marks.

Michael Snaer finished the night with 13 points behind a team-best three triples and Bernard James and Xavier Gibson each had 12 points apiece while adding six and seven rebounds, respectively. Gibson also had four blocks.

Freshman Terry Whisnant II broke out of his shooting slump, too. Whisnant entered the game against Charleston Southern with just two baskets to his credit on 11 shots during his young career but he surpassed that total with three makes on Monday -- including two 3-pointers -- to reach eight points.

The Seminoles had 19 assists to CSU's eight.

Defensively, Florida State was stingy from the start. The 'Noles took a 45-18 lead into the locker room at halftime and it was the lowest offensive output by an opponent at the Tucker Center this season.

For the game, the Buccaneers shot 29.8-percent from the floor and were out-rebounded 44-26. FSU also forced 20 turnovers but gave the ball away 21 times.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  24   4   8    0    1   4   5  12      3    4   7  1   2  3   4   1
 3 Luke Loucks           g  21   0   1    0    1   0   1   0      0    7   7  1   3  1   1   0
 5 Bernard James         f  23   6   9    0    0   0   0  12      2    4   6  3   1  1   1   0
10 Okaro White           f  28   8  12    2    4   2   3  20      2    5   7  1   3  0   0   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  23   5  13    3    8   0   0  13      2    2   4  4   2  2   0   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys          20   1   4    1    3   2   2   5      2    1   3  1   0  6   0   2
12 Jeff Peterson            24   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      0    2   2  4   6  3   0   2
31 Terry Whisnant           19   3  10    2    8   0   0   8      1    2   3  1   2  3   0   0
33 Joey Moreau               1   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                17   2   2    0    0   0   0   4      2    3   5  3   0  2   1   0
   Team                                                                1   1                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  30  62    8   26   8  11  76     14   31  45 19  19 21   7   7
   Opp                     200  17  57    7   25  10  14  51     10   20  30 18   8 20   0  10


  1 2 Total
Charleston Southern
18
33
51
Florida State
45
31
76
Attendance: 6,316

Florida State 75, UNC-Greensboro 60
12/11/2011, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

FSU Stays Undefeated At Home.

The Florida State men's basketball team moves to 6-0 on its home court this year with a 75-60 win over UNC Greensboro Sunday.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- The Florida State men's basketball team moved to 6-0 at home this season with a 75-60 win against UNC Greensboro Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Seminoles (7-3) turned the ball over a season-high 26 times against the Spartans (2-8) but still shot 52 percent from the field while getting 14 points from guard Michael Snaer, who has now scored in double figures in six consecutive games.

Snaer bounced back from an 0-for-5 mark from 3-point range in the first half to finish 3-for-8 from long distance by game's end.

While Snaer continued his double-figures scoring streak, freshman guard Terry Whisnant III has now had successive games in which he registered career highs. A game after scoring eight points against Charleston Southern, Whisnant's 11 points in the win over UNCG were good enough for a new young-career best.

Whisnant also recorded new career highs in assists (four), steals (two) and minutes played (22).

Junior forward Xavier Gibson added 11 points to go along with six rebounds and two blocks and senior guard Luke Loucks had eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

Senior forward Bernard James nearly registered his fifth double-double of the year with nine points and 10 rebounds. James also added a game's-best four blocks.

John Kreft, Deividas Dulkys and Okaro White had six points apiece for a Seminoles team that shot 40 percent from 3-point range and had 17 assists.

Defensively, the 'Noles forced 21 turnovers and totaled nine blocks. The Spartans shot just 35.5-percent from the field and were out-rebounded 33-28.

FSU boasted a 34-28 lead at halftime following a late 8-2 first-half run.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  20   4   5    0    0   3   5  11      2    4   6  2   1  4   2   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  23   3   3    2    2   0   0   8      0    4   4  3   3  3   0   2
 5 Bernard James         f  29   4   4    0    0   1   3   9      2    8  10  1   0  4   4   1
10 Okaro White           f  20   2   3    0    0   2   2   6      1    1   2  3   0  4   0   2
21 Michael Snaer         g  30   4  12    3    8   3   4  14      3    0   3  2   2  3   0   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys          21   2   5    1    4   1   2   6      0    0   0  1   2  3   1   1
12 Jeff Peterson            22   1   5    0    1   2   2   4      0    1   1  1   3  2   0   3
31 Terry Whisnant           22   3   9    2    5   3   4  11      2    2   4  0   4  0   0   2
50 Jon Kreft                13   3   4    0    0   0   0   6      1    2   3  3   2  3   2   1
   Team                                                                2   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  26  50    8   20  15  22  75     11   24  35 16  17 26   9  13
   Opp                     200  22  62    5   23  11  17  60     17   16  33 20   8 21   0  13


  1 2 Total
UNC-Greensboro
28
32
60
Florida State
34
41
75
Attendance: 5,250

Florida State 77, Loyola-Marymount 61
12/18/2011, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

FSU Cuts Down TO's, Drops LM.

The Florida State men's basketball team ties a season-low in turnovers in its 77-61 victory over Loyola Marymount Sunday afternoon at home.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- The Florida State men's basketball team moved to 7-0 at home this season Sunday afternoon by showing signs of improvement in what has been the weakest link in the Seminoles' overall game this season.

In a 77-61 victory over Loyola Marymount at the Donald L. Tucker Center, FSU (8-3) did a much better job of protecting the basketball. After a stretch of three games in with the 'Noles sustained 18, 21 and 26 turnovers, respectfully, Florida State tied a season-low with 16 giveaways against the Lions (6-5).

While FSU was doing its best to keep the numbers low in the turnover category, senior Bernard James was doing the opposite on offense and on the glass.

For the second game in a row, James registered a double-double in points and rebounds. His team-high 17 points accompanied his game-high 12 rebounds as James earned his fifth double-double of the season despite a 3-for-12 mark from the free-throw line.

Playing against the home-state Lions, California native Michael Snaer added 12 points and Xavier Gibson had 10 points and seven rebounds. Okaro White finished the day with seven points and 11 rebounds and Jeff Peterson rounded out the scoring for FSU's starters with seven points of his own.

Freshman Terry Whisnant II continued his improving play with eight points off the bench. Backup center John Kreft had eight points as well.

The Seminoles shot 43 percent from the field but were just 48 percent from the free-throw line. FSU lead by as many as 25 points and out-scored Loyola Marymount 38 to 12 in the paint.

The defensive-minded 'Noles held Loyola Marymount to just 35 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers. FSU had six steals, seven blocks and out-rebounded the Lions 45-26.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  19   4   7    0    1   2   5  10      3    4   7  4   0  4   1   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  22   1   8    1    5   1   2   4      0    1   1  1   8  3   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  26   7   9    0    0   3  12  17      6    6  12  2   0  0   4   0
10 Okaro White           f  29   3   7    0    1   1   2   7      6    5  11  2   1  0   1   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  27   4  12    2    5   2   2  12      1    3   4  1   1  1   0   2
 4 Deividas Dulkys          25   2   7    0    4   0   0   4      3    1   4  2   2  1   1   0
12 Jeff Peterson            18   3   6    1    3   0   0   7      1    1   2  1   2  5   0   2
31 Terry Whisnant           20   3   7    2    6   0   0   8      0    2   2  1   1  0   0   1
50 Jon Kreft                14   2   4    0    0   4   4   8      0    2   2  1   0  2   1   0
   Team                                                           1    3   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  29  67    6   25  13  27  77     21   28  49 15  15 16   8   6
   Opp                     200  20  56    9   26  12  16  61      8   24  32 21   9 17   0   3


  1 2 Total
Loyola-Marymount
23
38
61
Florida State
38
39
77
Attendance: 5,642

Florida 82, Florida State 64
12/22/2011, Gainesville

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By: Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

FSU Falls to No. 11 UF, 82-64.

The Florida State men's basketball team does its best to overcome slow start Thursday in Gainesville but Gators' second-half effort ultimately proves to be too much.

GAINESVILLE, FL -- The Florida State men's basketball team overcame a slow start but ultimately couldn't halt rival Florida Thursday night on the road as the Seminoles lost 82-64 to the No. 11 Gators.

FSU is now 8-4 on the season and will next play at home Dec. 30 against Princeton.

It looked like it was going to be an especially long night for the 'Noles against UF (10-2) as they started the ballgame in a 14-2 hole after hitting just one of their first 12 shots. But an 11-0 run made it a ballgame and Florida State trailed by just two points with just over 16 minutes left to play in the second half.

But fueled by a strong press defense and a stout inside-and-out effort by Patric Young and Bradley Beal, Florida churned out a 15-2 run and exploded for 50 points in the second half to secure the victory.

Senior guard Luke Loucks led the FSU scoring effort with 15 points while adding four rebounds and four assists. Xavier Gibson scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds and Terry Whisnant II continued his strong freshman-year play with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range.

Making his first appearance of the season, sophomore guard Ian Miller contributed seven points for a Seminoles team that shot 40 percent from the field, 30 percent from long range and 90 percent from the free-throw line.

Beal scored 21 for the Gators from his guard position and Young added 15 points thanks to his 7-for-7 shooting mark. UF shot 48 percent from the field and finished with two more rebounds than the Seminoles, 33 to 31.

The 'Noles struggled with Florida's pesky press defense and committed 19 turnovers, including eight of which occurred in the first 10 minutes of the second half that helped spark UF's run towards the win.

UF led at halftime, 32-24.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  26   5  11    0    1   0   0  10      3    3   6  4   0  1   1   1
 3 Luke Loucks           g  34   6  11    3    8   0   0  15      0    4   4  3   4  3   1   2
 5 Bernard James         f  28   3   8    0    0   0   0   6      2    4   6  0   1  4   1   1
10 Okaro White           f  19   0   2    0    0   6   6   6      2    1   3  5   0  1   0   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  25   1   5    0    3   2   3   4      0    3   3  2   0  3   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys          20   1   4    1    3   0   0   3      0    0   0  2   2  1   0   2
12 Jeff Peterson             8   1   1    0    0   0   0   2      0    2   2  1   2  2   0   0
24 Antwan Space              1   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               22   3   8    0    4   1   1   7      0    0   0  2   0  1   0   0
31 Terry Whisnant           10   4   5    3    4   0   0  11      2    1   3  0   0  0   0   1
50 Jon Kreft                 7   0   3    0    0   0   0   0      1    3   4  1   0  3   0   0
   Team                                                           3    1   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  59    7   23   9  10  64     13   22  35 20   9 19   3   7
   Opp                     200  28  58   10   28  16  24  82     13   22  35 14  15 11   3  12


  1 2 Total
Florida State
24
40
64
Florida
32
50
82
Attendance: 11,125

Princeton 75, Florida State 73
12/30/2011, 3 OT, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By: Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Poison Ivy: FSU Falls in 3 OTs.

The Florida State men's basketball team loses to Princeton, 75-73, Friday night at home in the first triple overtime game in program history.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- History was made at the Donald L. Tucker Center Friday night but the Florida State men's basketball team surely won't have any interest in commemorating Dec. 30, 2011 in the future.

Playing to a third overtime for the first time in program history, the Seminoles were upset by Princeton, 75-73, marking the second time this season that FSU (8-5) has lost to an Ivy League school. The 'Noles fell to a talented Harvard team earlier this season in the Bahamas.

Despite scoring just 10 points in the first half, Florida State outscored the Tigers (7-7) 37-20 in the second to force the first of the three extra periods.

The 'Noles were ultimately doomed by a poor performance from the free-throw line as they made just 11 of 22 attempts from the charity stripe.

Despite sustaining the first home loss of the season, FSU experienced improved guard play. Junior Michael Snaer posted a team-best 20 points and sophomore Ian Miller, who played his first game of the season last week at Florida, added 17 points.

Bernard James and Xavier Gibson added nine points in the post.

The Seminoles finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field and the Tigers connected on 41 percent of their shots. Despite committing 19 turnovers, Princeton was paced by 25-point efforts by both Douglas Davis and Ian Hummer.

After shooting just 4-for-24 in the first half, Florida State battled back in the second half and Gibson's dunk with 46 seconds to go tied the game at 47-47 before Princeton missed a potential game-winning put-back attempt.

In the first extra period, Snaer's jumper made it 51-49 and gave the Seminoles their first lead of the night. Tied at 53-53 shortly thereafter with 2.6 seconds left, James missed a free throw on the one-and-one attempt that would have likely given FSU the win.

Down three in the second overtime, Miller hit two free throws to cut Princeton's lead to 60-59 and then made a strong play defensively with the shot clock turned off. Miller's near steal drew a foul and he went to the line where he made just one to tie the score at 60-60.

With 24 seconds left, the Seminoles' defense then prevented Princeton from getting off a quality shot to force the record-setting third overtime.

Davis' second 3-pointer in the third overtime gave Princeton a 68-65 lead with 1:11 and then Hummer's dunk in transition pushed FSU's deficit to 70-65. Snaer was then able to hit a clutch 3-pointer to make it a one-possession ballgame but Princeton answered with two free throws and a steal off Luke Loucks' pass to hang on to the victory.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  31   4   8    0    2   1   1   9      2    6   8  3   0  4   2   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  40   4  11    2    3   0   0  10      2    5   7  3   5  3   0   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  21   0   3    0    2   0   0   0      0    3   3  1   0  1   1   1
 5 Bernard James         f  29   4   7    0    0   1   6   9      4    3   7  1   0  3   3   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  45   8  16    1    5   3   4  20      1    3   4  1   2  2   0   1
10 Okaro White              42   2   6    0    0   2   5   6      3    4   7  4   1  2   0   2
12 Jeff Peterson            18   1   3    0    1   0   1   2      0    2   2  2   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               39   6  15    1    5   4   5  17      0    2   2  5   1  0   1   4
31 Terry Whisnant            4   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 6   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      1    1   2  0   0  1   1   0
   Team                                                           1        1                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 275  29  69    4   18  11  22  73     14   30  44 20   9 16   8   9
   Opp                     275  27  65    8   23  13  18  75     11   33  44 21  12 19   6   8


  1 2 OT 2-OT 3-OT Total
Princeton
27
20
6
7
15
75
Florida State
10
37
6
7
13
73
Attendance: 6,670

Florida State 85, Auburn 56
01/04/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By: Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Tiger Trounce.

With the start of ACC play next on the schedule, the Florida State men's basketball team halts its two-game losing streak in a big way with a 85-56 win over visiting Auburn Wednesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Looking to avoid its third consecutive loss and looking for answers, the Florida State men's basketball team found both Wednesday night.

Five nights after falling to Princeton in the first triple-overtime game in school history, the Seminoles blasted Auburn 85-56 at the Donald L. Tucker to end their two-game skid and effectively erase the memory of what transpired less than a week prior.

FSU (9-5) needed three extra periods to reach 75 points in the loss to Princeton and scored just 10 points by halftime in that game. But against the Tigers (10-4), the 'Noles didn't have that same difficulty scoring the basketball and scored a season high.

Paced by Michael Snaer's career high 22 points, Florida State built a 50-16 lead at halftime and were never tested by the previously untested Tigers in the second period.

Ten of Snaer's points came from the free-throw line where the junior was a perfect 10-for-10. Snaer's perfection after drawing the foul was a team-wide characteristic against Auburn. The 'Noles were just 11-for-22 from the charity stripe against Princeton but hit 22 of their 26 attempts Wednesday against their SEC foe.

Since playing in his first game of the season in the loss to Florida late last month, sophomore Ian Miller continued his impressive play against Auburn. Miller scored 15 points off the bench and starter Xavier Gibson added 12 points, five rebounds and a game-best four blocks.

Luke Loucks added eight points and six assists and Bernard James had four points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Okaro White had six points while Jon Kreft grabbed eight rebounds to go along with his four points.

After playing just one minute all season, freshman Antwan Space earned some valuable second-half minutes and registered his first two collegiate points.

FSU shot 53.7 percent from the field against Auburn after connecting on just 42 percent of their shots against Princeton.

Auburn was held to just 32.3 percent shooting and was out-rebounded 45-30.

Wednesday's game concludes FSU's 2011-12 non-conference schedule as a trip to Clemson for an ACC-opening game against the other Tigers is next on the docket.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  20   4   4    0    0   4   4  12      1    4   5  3   0  1   4   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  26   4   7    0    1   0   0   8      0    4   4  0   6  2   0   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  21   2   5    1    4   0   0   5      0    2   2  2   3  1   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  20   2   2    0    0   0   1   4      1    7   8  2   0  1   3   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  26   5   9    2    5  10  10  22      1    3   4  1   1  2   0   4
10 Okaro White              20   2   2    0    0   2   2   6      1    2   3  1   1  3   2   1
12 Jeff Peterson            13   2   3    0    0   1   3   5      0    0   0  3   0  3   0   0
20 Rafael Portuondo          1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  1   0  0   0   0
24 Antwan Space              5   1   3    0    1   0   0   2      1    0   1  0   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               20   4  11    2    5   5   6  15      1    1   2  2   1  2   0   2
31 Terry Whisnant           13   1   4    0    3   0   0   2      1    2   3  1   0  0   0   1
33 Joey Moreau               1   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                14   2   3    0    0   0   0   4      1    7   8  2   1  1   1   0
   Team                                                           4    1   5                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  29  54    5   20  22  26  85     12   33  45 18  13 16  10   9
   Opp                     200  21  65    4   14  10  16  56     15   15  30 20  10 13   4   4


  1 2 Total
Auburn
16
40
56
Florida State
50
35
85
Attendance: 7,967

Clemson 79, Florida State 59
01/07/2012, Clemson, S.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

'Noles Drop ACC Opener.

The Florida State men's basketball team falls at Clemson, 79-59, in the first Atlantic Coast Conference game of the season for both teams.

CLEMSON, SC -- The Florida State men's basketball team will have to wait to get its first Atlantic Coast Conference win and 10th overall victory of the 2011-12 season.

The Seminoles (9-6, 0-1 ACC) never could recover from Clemson's first-half 20-0 run and fell to the Tigers, 79-59, Saturday night on the road in the league opener for both squads.

After scoring a season-high 85 points in their win over Auburn earlier in the week, the 'Noles allowed Clemson (9-6, 1-0) to score its second-most points of the year. The Tigers shot 49 percent from the field and buried 84 percent of their free throws while FSU was limited to just 35 percent shooting.

Neither team shot well from 3-point range.

Michael Snaer -- FSU's leading scorer at 13.6 points per game game before entering the tilt with the Tigers at LittleJohn Coliseum -- was held to just seven points. Ian Miller came off the bench to score 16 points and Bernard James was the only starter in double figures with 10 points. James also added eight rebounds but didn't register any blocks.

FSU was out-rebounded 34-30 while turning the ball over 16 times and forcing 12 Tigers' turnovers.

Clemson was led in scoring by Andre Young's 18 points. Fellow starters Milton Jennings and Tanner Smith added 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Snaer opened the game with a bang when his 3-point attempt hit nothing but net. But Clemson answered with back-to-back 3-pointers of its own on the other end and never trailed again.

The Tigers led 36-22 at halftime after a late 12-4 Seminoles' run.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  16   3   5    0    0   0   0   6      3    1   4  5   0  4   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  19   1   6    0    2   2   2   4      1    2   3  1   3  2   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  15   1   3    1    3   2   2   5      0    3   3  2   1  0   0   1
 5 Bernard James         f  32   4   8    0    0   2   3  10      4    4   8  3   0  2   0   2
21 Michael Snaer         g  27   3   8    1    2   0   0   7      0    0   0  1   0  2   0   0
10 Okaro White              13   1   5    0    0   0   0   2      1    2   3  4   0  0   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            21   1   6    0    2   3   4   5      0    1   1  1   4  3   1   3
24 Antwan Space              2   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    1   1  0   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               33   7  17    2    6   0   0  16      2    4   6  3   1  3   0   2
31 Terry Whisnant           16   1   3    1    3   1   2   4      0    0   0  1   1  0   0   1
50 Jon Kreft                 5   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      1    0   1  3   0  0   0   0
   Team                                                           4        4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 199  22  62    5   19  10  13  59     16   18  34 24  10 16   1   9
   Opp                     199  24  49    3   14  28  33  79      9   26  35 17  14 12   5   8


  1 2 Total
Florida State
22
37
59
Clemson
36
43
79
Attendance: 8,026

Florida State 63, Virginia Tech 59
01/10/2012, Blacksburg, Va.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Blocksburg!

The FSU men's basketball team posts a season-high 15 blocks in its 63-59 win over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. while Bernard James scores 18 points and adds a career-high 15 rebounds.

BLACKSBURG, VA -- Florida State couldn't afford to lose this one. Not with No. 3 North Carolina and the ESPN College Gameday cameras coming to town this Saturday.

Early in the season but already with their backs against the wall following a lopsided loss at Clemson, FSU needed a strong defensive performance and for Bernard James to put the team on his broad shoulders Tuesday night as the Seminoles earned a 63-59 win at Virginia Tech.

By tying his career high with 18 points and setting a new career best with 15 rebounds (nine of which occurred on the offensive glass), James made sure that FSU (10-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) picked up its first ACC win of the year and in the process generate some much-needed momentum as college basketball fans across the country prepare to turn their attention to Tallahassee.

The Seminoles also achieved a new season high with 15 blocks.

Ian Miller and Okaro White made sure to shoulder some of the load, too.

Miller continued his impressive offensive play off the bench as the sophomore added 15 points in the win. White finished with just four points but none were more important than the two he scored off a pair of successful free-throw attempts with under six seconds let to play at Cassell Coliseum.

The Seminoles had built a 30-21 lead at halftime but the Hokies (11-5, 0-2) had outscored FSU 38-31 in the second half before White's clutch free throws sealed the win.

After uncharacteristically struggling on defense in the loss to Clemson, Florida State looked more like its typically dominant self on that side of the basketball court Tuesday night. In addition to halting over a dozen Virginia Tech shots, the 'Noles held their opponents to just 30.5 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from 3-point range.

Michael Snaer contributed nine points before fouling out of the ballgame in the final moments for an FSU team that shot 41.2 percent. Luke Loucks added seven points and five assists.

Erick Green led the Hokies with 21 points but he wishes his total would have reached 23. Green had an opportunity to tie the game at 61-61 with 10 seconds remaining but Deividas Dulkys' defensive pressure forced him to miss a driving shot attempt before White snagged the rebound and was fouled.

Dulkys registered a career-best five blocks. Miller also set a new career high for blocks with four and James and Xavier Gibson had three blocks each.

For the game, the Seminoles won the rebounding battle 36-29.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  15   1   6    0    1   0   0   2      0    2   2  3   0  1   3   1
 3 Luke Loucks           g  32   2   5    2    5   1   2   7      1    2   3  2   5  2   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  22   1   4    0    2   2   2   4      1    5   6  1   1  2   5   0
 5 Bernard James         f  36   6  12    0    0   6   8  18      9    6  15  3   1  3   3   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  19   3   7    1    1   2   3   9      0    0   0  5   1  2   0   2
10 Okaro White              19   1   3    0    0   2   2   4      1    5   6  4   0  2   2   0
12 Jeff Peterson            12   2   2    0    0   0   1   4      0    2   2  2   0  1   0   0
30 Ian Miller               31   5  10    1    4   4   4  15      0    0   0  2   0  4   1   1
31 Terry Whisnant            4   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  1   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                10   0   2    0    0   0   0   0      0    2   2  3   0  1   1   0
   Team                                                           2        2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  21  51    4   13  17  22  63     14   24  38 25   8 19  15   5
   Opp                     200  18  59    2   12  21  24  59     16   18  34 20   6 12   4   5


  1 2 Total
Florida State
30
33
63
Virginia Tech
21
38
59
Attendance: 7,256

Florida State 90, North Carolina 57
01/14/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Dulkys, 'Noles Stomp 'Heels.

Deividas Dulky's career-high 32 points and FSU's stifling defense spark the Seminoles' 90-57 upset victory over No. 3 North Carolina Saturday at home.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- "I think somebody said if I wake up tomorrow, it was awesome; if not ... it was a dream."

For Deividas Dulkys and the Florida State men's basketball team, Saturday -- from early morning to early evening -- was real. For No. 3 North Carolina, it was too real.

The Seminoles upset the visiting Tar Heels, 90-57, at the Donald L. Tucker Center capping off a day that started before the sun ever rose when fans began lining up outside the arena for a chance to be in the crowd during ESPN's live College Gameday broadcast.

It ended with opposing coaches Leonard Hamilton and Roy Williams agreeing that it would be safer if UNC's players on the bench exited the floor with 14.2 seconds remaining to avoid potential injury from the swarms of 'Noles fans that would eventually rush the court in euphoric fashion.

North Carolina (15-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) found itself in that peculiar and unfamiliar position because of FSU's stifling defense and Dulkys can't-miss shooting effort. The Lithuanian-born senior had the best game of his career, scoring 32 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the floor -- including an 8-of-10 mark from 3-point range.

"It's great," Dulkys said, continuing the his quote about the dream scenario as he looked back on his effort in the post-game interview room. "I think everybody dreams about it when you are a little kid and I'm sure I had my moment like that too and it was my time to shine."

Dulkys exited the court to a standing ovation from the sold-out Seminoles crowd a few moments before UNC's players left early for the locker room.

He left to the sound of those fans chanting his name after they had watched him start the game with a 3-pointer that put the 'Noles on top for good. FSU never trailed after that bucket and UNC in turn sustained its largest margin of defeat since 2003.

"I've never had that," Dulkys said about his memorable retreat to the bench. "I heard that and I kind of got sentimental about it."

"Deividas is a very hard worker, a great teammate, a great student-athlete," Hamilton added. "He tries so hard that sometimes when he misses that first shot, he gets a little tight. ... I thought he relaxed tonight and played with an extreme amount of confidence and gave us a performance that we needed for us to be successful."

The Florida State (11-6, 2-1) defense didn't hurt either.

UNC -- the nation's leader in scoring prior to Saturday's upset -- was held to a season-low scoring total of 57. The Tar Heels also shot a season-worst 37.3 percent from the field and their bench players were outscored by FSU's reserves 24-8.

FSU also out-rebounded UNC, 41-33, and forced 21 Carolina turnovers while notching 12 steals.

The 'Noles' stout defense set up what was the team's best offensive performance of the season. En route to a season-high 90 points, FSU shot 48.4 percent overall and 44.4 percent from 3-point range.

"Our offense comes from our defense," Dulkys said. "We get steals, we can push the ball [and] get easier baskets. Everybody played the way we are capable of. We defended, we boxed out ... it was a defensive effort by everybody. Everybody came into the game and did their job."

Michael Snaer added 17 points and five rebounds while Okaro White came off the bench with a double-double effort in scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Bernard James had eight points and nine rebounds and Luke Loucks registered six points and six assists. Loucks and Dulkys also added eight of Florida State's 16 total assists.

The Seminoles started the game on a 9-2 run and led by as many as 12 in the first half before taking a 36-28 lead into the break. FSU then ran away with the upset victory that snapped UNC's nine-game winning streak thanks to a 30-8 run to start the second half.

The 'Noles now host Maryland on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

"In order for this game to be meaningful," Hamilton said, "we need to continue to stacking on these types of games."

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  13   1   2    0    0   1   2   3      1    3   4  4   1  1   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  33   2   7    2    5   0   1   6      0    2   2  2   6  6   0   4
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  33  12  14    8   10   0   1  32      0    1   1  3   4  1   1   4
 5 Bernard James         f  28   3   5    0    0   2   2   8      4    5   9  2   0  1   0   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  30   5  11    1    5   6   8  17      0    5   5  2   3  2   0   1
10 Okaro White              23   4  12    0    0   4   4  12      6    4  10  3   1  2   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson             7   2   3    1    2   0   0   5      0    2   2  0   0  1   0   0
20 Rafael Portuondo          1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  1   0   0
24 Antwan Space              4   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    1   1  2   0  1   0   0
30 Ian Miller               14   0   4    0    3   3   4   3      1    0   1  3   1  0   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            2   1   2    0    1   0   0   2      1    0   1  0   0  0   0   0
33 Joey Moreau               1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                11   0   1    0    0   2   2   2      1    4   5  2   0  1   0   1
   Team                                                           1    1   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  30  62   12   27  18  24  90     15   28  43 23  16 17   1  12
   Opp                     200  22  59    4   21   9  20  57     14   21  35 21   8 22   9   6


  1 2 Total
North Carolina
28
29
57
Florida State
36
54
90
Attendance: 12,100

Florida State 84, Maryland 70
01/17/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

FSU Flips Shell-Shocked Terps

Maryland can't handle Florida State's size and length in the paint as the basketball-protecting 'Noles earn a 84-70 win Tuesday night at home -- their third consecutive ACC win.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- It's said that all good things come to an end but in the case of the Florida State men's basketball team, that logic only proved true for a few seconds in Tuesday night's 84-70 win over visiting Maryland.

After not trailing for a total of 102 minutes and 37 seconds dating back to the start of the their game at Virginia Tech last week, that streak briefly ended for the Seminoles after Terrapins guard Jeff Stoglin hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second half at the Donald L. Tucker Center and Alex Len's five-footer found the bottom of the net.

Down 42-40 with 17:23 remaining in the game, FSU (12-6, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) regained the lead seven seconds later to spark a 16-0 run and maintained that advantage to earn its third-straight league win after suffering a conference-opening 20-point loss at Clemson -- an outcome that seems about a lifetime ago considering what the 'Noles have done in recent days.

After scoring a season-best 90 points in its blowout upset of then-No. 3 North Carolina last Saturday, Florida State has now scored at least 80 points in back-to-back ACC games for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

"We are just learning how to play within ourselves," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I think we are moving the ball little better. We are involving more people ... we cut down our turnovers."

The Seminoles' hot shooting from the outside defined that win over the Tar Heels but against the Terrapins (12-5, 2-2) it was ball protection and inside scoring that set the tone. FSU scored exactly half of its points in the paint (42) and turned the ball over a season-low nine times against the Terrapins.

Michael Snaer led FSU in scoring with 19 points while Ian Miller came off the bench to pour in a career high 18.

Bernard James added 17 points, six rebounds and two blocks for the well-balanced 'Noles.

"He was great," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said about the 27-year-old James. "He looked like a man among boys and you can probably say he is a man among boys out there age-wise."

Okaro White posted 13 of his own. Luke Loucks had a game-best six assists to go along with his nine points as the Seminoles shot 47.5 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from 3-point range.

Deividas Dulkys, who exploded for a career-high 32 points in FSU's win over UNC, was a point of defensive emphasis for the Terrapins and was limited to just six points. But those points were off two 3-pointers hit on back-to-back shots during the 'Noles' second-half run.

"[Dulkys] only got a couple looks but when he did he knocked them down," Hamilton said.

Toglin, the ACC's leading scorer, connected for 27 points for a Terps team that actually shot 50 percent from the field. But unlike the Seminoles, who shot 87 percent from the free-throw line (20-of-23), Maryland missed 10 of its shots from the charity stripe.

Florida State opened the game with a pair of put-back baskets by James and Xavier Gibson to set the tone on the inside and never trailed in the opening frame. The Seminoles led by as many as eight points in the first half but that advantage dwindled to 36-33 at halftime despite Miller's lay-up in the final seconds.

By taking a lead into the break, FSU hadn't trailed in five consecutive halves since that loss to the Tigers on Jan. 5.

"This is special to me to finally beat these guys," said Snaer, who had not yet beaten Maryland in his two-plus years playing for FSU.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  10   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      3    1   4  5   0  1   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  26   4   9    1    3   0   0   9      1    2   3  1   6  2   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  25   2   5    2    3   0   0   6      2    0   2  5   0  1   0   1
 5 Bernard James         f  30   8  13    0    0   1   1  17      3    3   6  0   0  1   2   3
21 Michael Snaer         g  28   6  14    1    4   6   8  19      0    1   1  2   2  1   2   2
10 Okaro White              20   4   7    0    0   5   5  13      1    2   3  4   1  1   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            14   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  1   1  1   0   0
24 Antwan Space              3   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               23   4   7    2    3   8   8  18      1    4   5  0   1  0   0   4
31 Terry Whisnant            3   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
33 Joey Moreau               1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                17   0   2    0    0   0   1   0      2    1   3  2   1  1   0   0
   Team                                                           1    4   5                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  29  61    6   13  20  23  84     14   19  33 20  12  9   4  10
   Opp                     200  24  48    5   15  17  27  70      9   20  29 19  10 15   3   2


  1 2 Total
Maryland
33
37
70
Florida State
36
48
84
Attendance: 8,853

Florida State 76, Duke 73
01/21/2012, Durham, N.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By: Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Giant Killers.

Michael Snaer's buzzer-beating 3-pointer gives Florida State a 76-73 win over No. 4 Duke -- the Seminoles' second victory over a top-five team in one week after knocking off then-No. 3 UNC last Saturday.

DURHAM, NC -- All it took was 4.9 seconds for 45 games to go up in smoke Saturday evening on Tobacco Road.

Behind Michael Snaer's buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Florida State men's basketball team upset No. 4 Duke, 76-73, to snap the Blue Devils' 45-game winning steak at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Ending such a stellar run by one of college basketball's premier programs is one thing. The manner in which the Seminoles accomplished that task is another.

After Duke's Seth Curry hit a lay-up to tie the game at 73-73 with less than five seconds left on the game clock and with no timeouts to use, Luke Loucks took FSU's inbounds pass hastily across mid court where Bernard James' well-placed screen gave him the necessary room to find the game's soon-to-be hero.

It may have happened in a blink of an eye but what the Seminoles (13-6, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) did amongst the Cameron Crazies deserves a long look.

By beating Duke (14-3, 2-1), Florida State capped off what could be considered one of -- if not the -- greatest regular-season weeks in the program's history.

Exactly seven days after giving the Tallahassee crowd a reason to rush the court after upsetting then-No. 3 North Carolina, the 'Noles players had a reason to rush the court in Durham following Snaer's big shot. Not only did FSU defeat two top-five teams in a span of one week while also sandwiching a victory over Maryland in between those two games but the Seminoles also moved into a tie for first place in the competitive ACC.

It was also Duke's first home loss to an unranked opponent since 2007 when Florida State came into Cameron Indoor and did the same thing.

Perhaps nothing is more indicative of the strides that FSU has made since opening league play with a 20-point loss at Clemson than the 54-percent shooting mark the team registered against the Blue Devils.

The 'Noles' improved offensive play over the last several games also included featured a 50-percent clip from 3-point range against the Blue Devils -- with none being bigger than Snaer's crowd-stunning bucket as time expired.

Snaer's buzzer-beater was actually his second of the game as he also hit an improbable bank shot as the final seconds of the first half ticked off the clock. The Moreno Valley, Calif. native finished the game with 14 points as one of four FSU starters that scored in double figures.

Xavier Gibson's 16 points led Florida State while Bernard James added 12 points and five rebounds. Deividas Dulkys finished with 12 points and Loucks posted eight of his own.

The Seminoles held Duke to just 39.7 percent shooting as freshman star Austin Rivers scored a game-high 19 points. Andre Dawkins added 14 points and Curry had 12. Ryan Kelly -- one of just three bench players to participate for the Blue Devils -- contributed 10 points.

For the second game in a row, FSU finished with more assists than turnovers (15 and 12, respectively). Duke grabbed more offensive rebounds than the 'Noles and outscored their visitors 20-6 in second-chance points but couldn't stop Florida State from picking up its fourth consecutive conference win.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  22   4   8    1    1   7   8  16      0    5   5  3   1  2   3   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  29   2   6    0    2   4   6   8      1    2   3  2   4  1   0   2
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  30   5   8    2    4   0   0  12      0    5   5  2   3  2   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  32   5   7    0    0   2   4  12      3    5   8  3   1  2   2   2
21 Michael Snaer         g  33   6  10    2    3   0   0  14      0    5   5  3   3  2   0   1
10 Okaro White              18   1   3    1    1   2   2   5      0    0   0  2   0  1   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            11   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  1   2  2   0   0
30 Ian Miller               15   3   5    1    2   0   0   7      0    0   0  1   1  0   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            2   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 8   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      0    1   1  1   0  0   0   0
   Team                                                                2   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  27  50    7   14  15  20  76      4   26  30 18  15 12   5   6
   Opp                     200  25  63   10   23  13  17  73     14   19  33 17  13 10   1   4


  1 2 Total
Florida State
26
50
76
Duke
32
41
73
Attendance: 9,314

Florida State 75, Wake Forest 52
01/25/2012, Winston-Salem, N.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

FSU Stays Hot, Wallops Wake.

The hottest team in college basketball continued its torrid pace through the ACC Wednesday night as the No. 23 Seminoles dismantled the Demon Deacons, 75-52.

WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- In this week's issue, the No. 23 Florida State men's basketball team is featured as one of the hot teams in the country in Sports Illustrated's "what's hot and what's not" list.

After walloping Wake Forest, 75-52, Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Seminoles are well on their way towards a repeat performance inside the magazine's pages.

Winners of five in a row -- a streak that is the team's longest since 1993 -- FSU (14-6, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) has now scored at least 75 points in four consecutive games and has defeated Wake Forest (11-9, 2-4) four consecutive times -- a feat that has not occurred since the 1993-94 season.

The ACC's reigning player of the Week, Michael Snaer, led the Seminoles in scoring with 18 points. The junior guard was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range and 6-for-9 overall from the field. Snaer's excellence from long range helped FSU shoot 50 percent from 3-point distance and 50.9 percent in total.

One game after shooting 67 percent in the second half against Duke, the 'Noles shot 68 percent in the final period against the Demon Deacons.

Just like that buzzer-beating victory over the Blue Devils, Xavier Gibson had another strong game. Gibson scored 10 points while adding three rebounds. Bernard James scored seven points and grabbed nine rebounds and Okaro White came off the bench to add 11 points.

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said earlier in the week that Demon Deacons center Ty Walker presented a unique challenge because of his ability to alter games defensively. But Walker proved to be a non-factor after he left the game late in the first half with what was announced as a concussion.

Walker still managed four blocks in his limited time on the floor but FSU scored 40 points in the paint and won the rebounding battle 32-25. The Demon Deacons were also held to just 34.9 percent shooting.

Demon Deacons star Travis McKie -- the ACC's fourth-leading scorer before Wednesday night with a per-game average of 17.2 points -- was limited to just three points.

The Seminoles led 29-23 at the half before Wake Forest cut that advantage to just two points early in the second period. But FSU answered with a 18-2 run and never trailed by less than double digits the rest of the game.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  19   4   7    0    0   2   2  10      1    2   3  3   0  2   0   1
 3 Luke Loucks           g  13   2   3    1    2   0   0   5      0    2   2  3   1  1   1   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  24   2   5    1    4   0   0   5      1    2   3  3   0  0   0   1
 5 Bernard James         f  27   3   6    0    0   1   2   7      2    7   9  0   1  3   2   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  27   6   9    4    4   2   3  18      0    2   2  3   2  0   0   0
10 Okaro White              20   4   6    0    0   3   3  11      0    3   3  1   0  0   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            25   2   6    0    1   0   0   4      1    1   2  1   6  3   0   1
20 Rafael Portuondo          1   1   1    1    1   0   0   3      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
24 Antwan Space              2   1   1    0    0   1   1   3      0    0   0  1   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               21   1   8    1    3   0   0   3      1    1   2  2   3  1   0   3
31 Terry Whisnant            8   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    0   0  1   0  0   0   0
33 Joey Moreau               1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                12   3   4    0    0   0   2   6      4    2   6  1   0  1   0   0
   Team                                                                2   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  29  57    8   16   9  13  75     10   24  34 19  13 11   3   7
   Opp                     200  15  43    5   16  17  20  52      7   21  28 17   7 18   5   4


  1 2 Total
Florida State
29
46
75
Wake Forest
23
29
52
Attendance: 9,147

Florida State 68, Georgia Tech 54
02/01/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

No. 21 FSU Jams GT, 68-54.

The Florida State men's basketball team beat Georgia Tech Wednesday night at home to set a new school record for most ACC wins in a row with six.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- It wasn't nearly as flawless as the blow out of North Carolina or as thrilling as the buzzer-beater at Duke but Wednesday night's game was still record setting for the No. 21 Florida State men's basketball team.

FSU bounced back from a poor shooting performance in the first half and beat Georgia Tech, 68-55, at the Donald L. Tucker Center to capture its school-record sixth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference win.

By extending their winning streak to six games, the Seminoles (15-7, 6-1 ACC) remain atop the league standings via tie-breakers. But maintaining that first-place perch looked to be in doubt after 20 minutes of basketball against the Yellow Jackets Yellow Jackets (8-14, 1-7).

FSU looked a lot like the team that got beat soundly at Clemson in early January in that opening half, scoring just 24 points and shooting just 35 percent.

Of course that was an outing that led to a passionate post-game locker-room talk by the 'Noles that helped spark FSU's five-game run prior to playing the Yellow Jackets.

Down 25-24 at the break, FSU's spark this time was a halftime regrouping rather than the post-game kind. The Seminoles opened the second period with back-to-back Xavier Gibson and Luke Loucks buckets and a Deividas Dulkys 3-pointer. Not too long after that, Okaro White's tomahawk slam gave Florida State a 41-32 lead -- its fifth double-digit advantage in seven ACC games -- and the team never led by less than seven the rest of the evening.

"Second half, we played with a lot more energy," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We executed a lot better. We got some deflections and steals, and got out and got some easy baskets."

Michael Snaer had his own record-setting night as his five made 3-pointers tied his career best. Snaer's 21 points -- 16 of which were posted in the second half -- on 7-for-10 shooting led all scorers.

Snaer also had a game-high and career-best five steals as the 'Noles forced 24 turnovers.

"His defense sets the tone for everybody else," Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory said.

Bernard James added 13 points and eight rebounds and White connected for 11 points. Loucks had nine points and seven of the 'Noles' 15 assists.

FSU turned the ball over just 15 times and shot 49 percent from the field while holding Georgia Tech to 43 percent shooting and scoring 25 points off the Yellow Jackets' giveaways.

Brandon Reed scored 18 points for the Yellow Jackets but Georgia Tech couldn't overcome another terrific second half by the 'Noles. After shooting 67 and 68 percent in the second half of wins at Duke and Wake Forest, respectively, FSU shot 62 percent against Georgia Tech -- a marked change after shooting at just a 35 percent clip in the first half.

"This team is learning when you move into the upper echelon of this league you are going to take every team's best shot," Hamilton said. "I thought this team came at us and played an excellent game. If we hadn't turned it up a notch, we wouldn't have had to opportunity to come away with a 14-point victory like we did."

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  20   1   3    0    0   1   4   3      0    2   2  3   0  3   1   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  26   3   6    1    1   2   2   9      0    4   4  2   7  3   0   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  27   2   8    1    5   2   2   7      1    2   3  1   1  1   0   2
 5 Bernard James         f  32   5   6    0    0   3   6  13      1    7   8  1   1  1   1   2
21 Michael Snaer         g  33   7  10    5    7   2   2  21      1    0   1  2   3  3   0   5
10 Okaro White              18   4   5    1    1   2   3  11      0    2   2  4   2  0   0   2
12 Jeff Peterson            14   1   1    0    0   0   0   2      0    0   0  0   0  2   0   1
24 Antwan Space              2   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               17   0   8    0    3   0   1   0      0    3   3  1   0  1   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            3   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 8   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      0    0   0  3   1  1   0   0
   Team                                                           2    3   5                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  49    8   17  12  20  68      5   23  28 17  15 15   2  14
   Opp                     200  18  42    8   18  10  14  54      3   24  27 20  10 24   4   8


  1 2 Total
Georgia Tech
25
29
54
Florida State
24
44
68
Attendance: 9,756

Florida State 58, Virginia 55
02/04/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

FSU Beats UVa, Extends Streak.

The No. 21 Florida State men's basketball team defeated No. 16 Virginia, 58-55, Saturday to push its school-record ACC winning streak to seven games.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- A capacity crowd at the Donald L. Tucker got exactly what it expected Saturday afternoon from No. 16 Virginia and No. 21 Florida State.

The Atlantic Coast Conference's two best defensive teams combined to force 39 turnovers -- 19 by the Seminoles and 20 by the Cavaliers -- and the game needed every bit of its 40 minutes to determine a winner.

When the final buzzer did sound, FSU emerged victorious over UVa, 58-55, thanks to its ability to withstand a second-half rally that had erased a 13-point 'Noles (16-6, 7-1 ACC) lead. By beating Virginia (18-4, 5-3), FSU not only upset another top-20 opponent but it extended its school-record streak of conference victories to seven.

Despite scoring its fewest points in 14 games, Florida State registered some timely buckets in the final moments against a Virginia squad that entered Sunday's game ranked No. 2 in the entire nation in points allowed.

After falling behind, 45-44, with 4:41 left to play, Michael Snaer chose that moment to make his first basket of the day when his 3-pointer hit nothing but net. Luke Loucks then added two points and Okaro White hit one of two free throws before Virginia's Joe Harris answered with his own 3-pointer to trim the 'Noles' advantage to just 50-48 with 2:25 left on the clock.

Snaer then answered again by connecting from beyond NBA 3-point range and the Seminoles never led by less than three in the game's final two minutes.

"We just needed to settle down," White said afterwards. "We kind of let them do what they wanted to do on the offensive end towards the end of the game. We just got a timeout and got in the huddle and settled down and played our offense."

White led the way with 13 points and five rebounds while Snaer added eight points, three rebounds, two steals and an overall dominating defensive performance. Xavier Gibson scored 10 points and and grabbed five rebounds to go along with two blocks.

FSU has drastically improved its shooting percentage in the second half of games during the winning streak but against the Cavs maintained a shooting clip of at least 45 percent in both halves and finished with an overall shooting percentage of 47.8. The 'Noles were also 41.7 percent from 3-point distance.

Harris and Cavaliers star Mike Harris both scored 16 points. Harris managed a double-double with 11 points but he also was forced into committing a game-high seven turnovers.

For the game, Virginia shot 47 percent from the field and 33 percent from long range. FSU secured 24 rebounds combated to UVa's 23 boards and both teams had 10 steals each.

With the loss, the Cavaliers misfortunes in Tallahassee continue. Virginia has not left Florida's capitol with a win since Feb. 17, 2001.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  21   4   6    0    1   2   3  10      2    3   5  1   1  0   2   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  25   2   6    0    1   2   4   6      1    1   2  1   1  3   0   2
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  33   2   5    1    2   1   2   6      0    2   2  1   1  5   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  23   2   4    0    0   0   0   4      1    3   4  3   0  0   1   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  30   3   9    2    4   0   1   8      1    2   3  1   1  5   2   2
10 Okaro White              28   5   6    1    1   2   4  13      3    2   5  2   0  2   0   1
12 Jeff Peterson            14   1   2    0    0   2   2   4      0    2   2  1   2  2   0   1
30 Ian Miller               18   2   7    1    3   0   0   5      0    1   1  1   1  1   0   1
50 Jon Kreft                 8   1   1    0    0   0   0   2      0    0   0  2   0  1   0   2
   Team                                                           2    2   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  22  46    5   12   9  16  58     10   18  28 13   7 19   5  10
   Opp                     200  21  45    6   18   7   8  55      5   19  24 17  11 20   1  10


  1 2 Total
Virginia
22
33
55
Florida State
23
35
58
Attendance: 11,757

Boston College 64, Florida State 60
02/08/2012, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer.

FSU's Streak Snapped.

The No. 15 Florida State men's basketball team sees its seven-game winning streak come to an end as Boston College pulls off the upset, 64-60, Wednesday night at the Conte Forum.

CHESTNUT HILL, MA -- A pair of streaks were snapped Wednesday night and in the process the Atlantic Coast Conference's first-place team fell to its last-place team when No. 15/17 Florida State lost to Boston College, 64-60, on the road.

The Seminoles (16-7, 7-2 ACC) had propelled themselves to the top of the league standings over the past month with seven consecutive victories while the last-place Eagles (8-16, 3-7) had lost six in a row before the upset on their home floor.

But Boston College shot 45 percent from 3-point range and FSU shot 39 percent overall and just 25 percent from long distance on its end. The Seminoles go-to guy over winning streak, Michael Snaer, scored a team-high 16 points but he was just 6-of-18 from the floor and had just one 3-point bucket -- a long-range make that came in the final desperate seconds.

To put it in perspective, Snaer had shot at a 51-percent clip -- including a 57.3-percent mark from 3-point range -- during the seven-game stretch of victories before Wednesday night.

Bernard James added 12 points and seven rebounds while dealing with foul issues all evening. Ian Miller came off the bench to score 12 points.

Florida State only turned the ball over 14 times but the Eagles had just 10 giveaways. FSU also won the battle on the glass by out-rebounding Boston College 32-21 but the home squad accrued 14 assists to the 'Noles' eight.

Boston College entered the game with just one player averaging double figures but finished the contest with four of five starters scoring at least 12 points. Jordan Daniels registered a game-best 19 points while Matt Humphrey scored 15, Ryan Anderson had 14 and Lonnie Jackson added 12.

None of the Eagles bench players scored.

FSU trailed 55-47 at the tail end of a Boston College 9-2 run before trimming that deficit to 55-51 with 5:22 left to play. Back-to-back successful free-throw trips by Miller and Okaro White moved the score to 60-57 in favor of the Eagles with 1:28 left. The Seminoles then had a chance to tie it at 60 apiece but Luke Loucks' long-range 3-pointer fell short.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  18   1   5    1    1   1   2   4      1    4   5  2   0  2   3   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  29   1   8    0    4   0   0   2      0    1   1  1   4  0   0   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  22   3   5    1    3   0   0   7      0    4   4  2   1  2   0   1
 5 Bernard James         f  23   4   4    0    0   4   5  12      3    4   7  4   0  2   1   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  34   6  18    1    7   3   4  16      2    5   7  2   1  0   1   0
10 Okaro White              28   2   3    0    0   3   3   7      0    4   4  4   0  3   0   2
12 Jeff Peterson            11   0   2    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  2   1  1   0   0
30 Ian Miller               22   4   8    2    5   2   2  12      1    1   2  3   1  2   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            4   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  1   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 9   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      1    0   1  1   0  2   0   0
   Team                                                                1   1                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  21  53    5   20  13  16  60      8   25  33 22   8 14   5   5
   Opp                     200  19  48   10   22  16  23  64      6   21  27 15  14 10   4   8


  1 2 Total
Florida State
33
27
60
Boston College
34
30
64
Attendance: 4,074

Florida State 64, Miami 59
02/11/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

James Leads FSU Past Miami.

Bernard James ties his career high with 18 points and the No. 15/17 Florida State men's basketball team ends rival Miami's five-game winning streak with a 64-59 triumph Saturday.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- It's not very often that Florida State's Bernard James finds himself at a size disadvantage but then again not every team has someone like Miami's Reggie Johnson.

Despite being about 50 pounds lighter than his 6-foot-10, 290-pound counterpart at center, James scored 15 of his career-high-tying 18 points Saturday and No. 15/17 FSU earned a 64-59 win over the visiting Hurricanes.

With the help of the Seminoles' (17-7, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) guard pressure, James limited Johnson to four points. He also added six rebounds and four blocks and several second-half dunks that excited the Donald L. Tucker Center's capacity crowd.

"Basically he's a man out there. He's strong," said Miami coach Jim Larranaga, who's team had won five a row before making the in-state trek to Tallahassee. "He's very much emotionally in control. He doesn't seem to get flustered by anything."

James didn't let Miami's (15-8, 6-4) ability to limit his first-half touches and Johnson's size to alter what he did after both team's emerged from the halftime locker room with the 'Noles leading 28-26.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound senior made seven of his eight shots in the second period, contributing to FSU's 52.2-percent shooting clip in that half. James also figured out the best way to use Johnson's presence against him.

"One time I went at him and I hit him pretty much as hard as I could and I bounced off him," James said. "I tried to get him in ball screens more to keep him running. It was definitely a team effort."

Michael Snaer added 12 points and Ian Miller scored 11 for the Seminoles as the team shot 46 percent overall for the day. FSU was actually outscored in the paint 30-26 and out-rebounded 35-29 by the Hurricanes but simply made more plays than its opponent in critical second-half moments.

From Luke Loucks' shot-clock beating lay-up with just over two minutes to play to successful trips to the free-throw line by both Miller and Okaro White with less than 30 seconds on the clock, FSU did what was required to win a game that featured five lead changes and nine ties.

"A lot of guys just seized the moments," Loucks said. "A lot of different guys stepped up and made plays when they had to."

With the win, Florida State stays in first place in the ACC while moving to 5-0 against conference foes that are in the top half of the league standings.

The 'Noles also successfully bounced back from a surprising upset at Boston College earlier in the week -- a setback that marked the end of the team's seven-game winning streak.

"The guys responded because they have pride knowing that we faltered and didn't play quite as well as we are capable of," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  15   2   5    0    1   0   0   4      1    1   2  1   0  0   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  31   3   7    1    2   0   3   7      2    4   6  1   6  0   0   2
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  20   1   3    0    2   0   0   2      0    1   1  2   1  1   0   2
 5 Bernard James         f  29   8  13    0    0   2   4  18      3    3   6  2   0  7   4   2
21 Michael Snaer         g  37   4  11    2    6   2   2  12      0    5   5  3   2  4   0   0
10 Okaro White              25   2   6    0    2   2   2   6      3    2   5  3   0  0   1   0
12 Jeff Peterson            10   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  0   0  1   0   0
30 Ian Miller               23   2   4    2    3   5   6  11      0    0   0  1   0  1   0   1
50 Jon Kreft                10   1   1    0    0   2   2   4      0    1   1  0   0  1   1   0
   Team                                                                2   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  23  50    5   16  13  19  64      9   20  29 13   9 15   6   7
   Opp                     200  22  56    5   22  10  13  59     13   22  35 15  10 15   1   6


  1 2 Total
Miami
26
33
59
Florida State
28
36
64
Attendance: 11,971

Florida State 48, Virginia Tech 47
02/16/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Snaer, 'Snakepit' And 6-0.

Michael Snaer's 3-pointer buries Virginia Tech, 48-47, as the No. 20 FSU men's basketball team moves to 6-0 in ACC games this season at the appropriately-nicknamed.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- It goes by many names.

The Donald L. Tucker Center. The Civic Center. And even the T-L-C-Double-C.

But perhaps the most fitting name -- and the one most appropriate considering what happened tonight at the home of the No. 20 Florida State men's basketball team -- is the one that started simply as a nickname by FSU Assistant Director of Marketing Drew Longenecker because of a recent history of struggles by the Seminoles' visiting opponents.

Just call it the "Snakepit" because Atlantic Coast Conference teams keep getting bit.

Virginia Tech experienced the dangers of coming into the Seminoles' lair Thursday night as Michael Snaer's game-winning 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left gave FSU an improbable 48-47 come-from-behind victory.

"It was a tough one," Snaer said. "They kept pounding on us. Fortunate enough we finally found some fire, found some heart in our team and we just kept pushing and fighting back."

The win not only kept the 'Noles (18-7, 9-2 ACC) atop the league standings but it improved the team's record in ACC games at home to 6-0 this season. The Seminoles are also now 16-2 in their last 18 conference games in Tallahassee over the past two-plus years.

Snaer found himself in position to hit his second game winner of the year because of FSU's improved offensive play in the final moments and the Hokies' (14-12, 3-8) inability to connect on what would have been game-sealing free throws.

Virginia Tech trailed 25-23 at halftime but erased that slight deficit with a hefty 17-0 run to the start the second period. FSU trailed by as many 15 points with less than 15 minutes to play but chipped away at the Hokies' lead before scoring 11 points in the final minute and 13 seconds.

While Florida State was finding the offensive rhythm that had eluded its grasp all evening, Virginia Tech was aiding in its host's comeback effort by shooting just 7-of-16 from the free-throw line -- including five misses in the final 1:09 of the game.

Ian Miller led FSU in scoring with 11 points, including a big 3-pointer with 44 seconds left that put FSU within two points at 47-45. After Virginia Tech then missed two free throws with 10 seconds left, Snaer rose and fired from nearly the same spot on the floor as he did when FSU upset Duke at Cameron Indoor last month.

His final 3-pointer gave Snaer nine points for the game after he had gone 0-for-3 from long range and 3-of-10 from the floor before that dagger.

"I missed a few before that but you've just got to keep believing in yourself," Snaer said.

Bernard James added six rebounds and three blocks but was held to just four points.

Erick Green led Virginia Tech with 18 points.

FSU shot 40 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range while committing 15 turnovers. The Hokies shot 32.7 percent overall and only had seven turnovers were out-rebounded 38-29.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  14   1   3    0    0   1   2   3      1    3   4  1   0  1   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  22   2   4    0    2   0   0   4      0    4   4  3   4  6   2   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  26   1   5    1    3   0   0   3      2    4   6  0   1  3   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  25   2   2    0    0   0   4   4      2    4   6  2   0  0   3   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  28   4  11    1    4   0   0   9      1    3   4  3   1  2   1   0
10 Okaro White              23   2   6    1    1   0   0   5      3    3   6  5   0  1   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            18   2   4    1    2   0   2   5      1    3   4  2   2  1   0   0
30 Ian Miller               31   4  13    3    8   0   0  11      0    3   3  3   2  0   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            5   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 8   2   2    0    0   0   0   4      0    1   1  0   0  1   0   1
   Team                                                           3        3                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  20  50    7   20   1   8  48     13   28  41 19  10 15   6   2
   Opp                     200  17  52    6   18   7  16  47     11   20  31 13   9  7   3   9


  1 2 Total
Virginia Tech
23
24
47
Florida State
25
23
48
Attendance: 10,123

Florida State 76, North Carolina State 62
02/18/2012, Raleigh, N.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

4-For-4 And Looking For More.

No. 20 FSU beats NC State, 76-62, Saturday, making it the first time in program history that the 'Noles have defeated the Wolfpack, Duke, UNC and Wake Forest in same year as sold-out rematch with the Blue Devils looms Thursday.

RALEIGH, NC -- As far as basketball in the Atlantic Coast Conference goes, the state of North Carolina is typically king.

But in an anything-but-common, record-breaking 2011-12 season for the Florida State men's basketball team, the No. 20 Seminoles used their trip to Raleigh, N.C. to flip that logic -- at least from a regular-season standpoint -- on its ear Saturday against NC State.

In its impressive 76-62 win over the Wolfpack (18-9, 7-5 ACC) at the RBC Center, FSU (19-7, 10-2) has now defeated the four conference teams in the ACC -- NC State, Duke, Wake Forest and UNC -- in the same season for the first time in program history.

The 'Noles had beaten three of those four programs in the same season in five separate years before this current campaign.

FSU now hosts No. 5 Duke at the Donald L. Tucker Center Feb. 23 with sole possession of first place in the ACC on the line (assuming Duke beats Boston College Sunday). The game is already sold out, helping set up and hype what will be one of the biggest college basketball contests in Tallahassee in FSU's history.

Florida State propelled itself into the showdown with the Blue Devils and accomplished its record-breaking task Saturday by controlling the ballgame at NC State from start to finish. The 'Noles never trailed and led by double figures the entire second half while holding the Wolfpack to a season-low 29.3 percent shooting.

NC State was just 25 percent from 3-point range, too, and had 18 turnovers. Leading scorer Scott Wood was held to just eight points on 1-of-11 shooting.

On the offensive end, North Carolina native Ian Miller's 17 points guided an FSU team that turned the ball over just 14 times and shot 50 percent from the field and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Michael Snaer and Okaro White scored 10 points apiece and Bernard James added 12 points. James was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and also registered four blocks and six rebounds. As a team, the Seminoles out-rebounded the Wolfpack 32-31 and their bench outscored NC State's reserves, 37-8.

Both teams had played two nights earlier -- the quickest non-tournament turnaround for the two this season.

Florida State struggled with fouls in the first half as Snaer, Deividas Dulkys, White, James and Xavier Gibson all picked up a pair of infractions in the first 20 points. As a result, NC State went to the line 18 times and made 13 of those shots -- a total that was enough for half its points -- in the opening frame.

Despite the Wolfpack's large number of chances at the line, they were held to just 20 percent shooting in the opening frame by the 'Noles and Miller hit a 3-pointer just a few minutes before the break as FSU took a 37-26 lead into halftime.

The Seminoles have now won at least 10 ACC games in a school-record four consecutive seasons. The win also gives FSU's fourth-year seniors 89 victories to their credit -- the most of any four-year players in school history.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  12   3   6    0    0   0   0   6      1    1   2  4   1  1   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  29   1   6    1    4   0   0   3      0    4   4  1   4  0   0   3
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  22   3   6    2    2   0   0   8      0    2   2  4   1  1   1   0
 5 Bernard James         f  24   3   4    0    0   6   6  12      3    3   6  3   1  3   4   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  26   2   8    0    2   6   6  10      0    5   5  2   5  1   0   1
10 Okaro White              21   4   7    0    2   2   4  10      2    0   2  4   0  2   1   1
12 Jeff Peterson            12   2   3    0    1   0   0   4      0    3   3  0   1  1   0   1
20 Rafael Portuondo          1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  2   0   0
24 Antwan Space              8   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      1    2   3  1   0  0   1   0
30 Ian Miller               23   6   9    1    2   4   5  17      0    2   2  2   1  1   0   1
31 Terry Whisnant            7   1   1    0    0   0   0   2      1    1   2  0   0  0   0   0
33 Joey Moreau               1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                14   1   3    0    0   0   0   2      0    1   1  1   0  2   2   1
   Team                                                                2   2         2        
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  27  55    4   13  18  21  76      8   26  34 22  14 16   9   8
   Opp                     200  17  58    3   12  25  31  62     18   20  38 19  12 17   3   8


  1 2 Total
Florida State
37
39
76
North Carolina State
26
36
62
Attendance: 17,547

Duke 74, Florida State 66
02/23/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Duke Devilish from Long Range in FSU's 74-66 Loss.

The No. 16/15 Florida State men's basketball team loses its first ACC home game of the season as No. 4/5 Duke hits 13 3-pointers Thursday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Florida State killed Duke with a 3-pointer in the first meeting but in Thursday's highly anticipated rematch, the No. 4/5 Blue Devils lived by the triple in a 74-66 win.

With first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a guaranteed first-round bye in the league tournament on the line, Duke shot 46 percent from 3-point range, including a 50-percent mark on 6-of-12 shots in the second half.

Despite Duke's (24-4, 11-2 ACC) brilliance from beyond the arc, No. 16/15 FSU (19-8, 10-3) rode the wave of its sell-out crowd and found itself down just three points on two separate occasions with less than five minutes left to play.

But in both instances, the Blue Devils benefitted from timely long-range shots -- the first from Ryan Kelly to push FSU's deficit to 61-55 and then again shortly thereafter when Seth Curry buried a 3-pointer following Bernard James' and-one opportunity.

The 'Noles would never get closer than a 66-61 score with 2:40 left to play.

"When you go from three to six that gives you three two-point possessions," Duke coach Mike Kryzewski said. "Just huge shots. We hit free throws down the stretch and didn't turn the ball over and [FSU] played hard and put themselves in position to win. We made a couple plays and we won. I thought both teams played really winning basketball today. I have so much respect before and after the game for their team and their coaching staff.

"[The Seminoles] are legitimate one of the top teams in the country and the crowd was great."

Snaer was the hero in that first game when his buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave FSU the come-from-behind win at Cameron Indoor.

Thursday, he led the Seminoles in scoring with 18 points despite playing just 10 minutes in the first half because of two early fouls. The first period saw James score just four points but he got stronger as the game progressed and finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and career-high-tying five blocks.

Okaro White was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line as he added nine points for a 'Noles team that shot 40 percent for the game while committing a season-low eight turnovers. The 'Noles also outscored Duke 34-14 in the paint.

But FSU was just 27 percent from 3-point range after hitting just two of its 12 attempts from that distance in the second half. And when Duke is making all of its shots from that same distance, few teams can hang around much longer than the Seminoles did Thursday night.

"We allowed them to do what they do best, which is hit 3s," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

Nobody did that better than Andre Dawkins, who hit six of his nine 3-point shots for a game- and career-high 22 points for the Blue Devils. With his NBA-coach father in attendance, Doc Rivers, Winter Park native Austin Rivers scored 20 points and Kelly added 13. Mile Plumlee posted 10 points before fouling out.

Duke led 39-32 at the half after James' dunk capped off FSU's 6-0 run before the opening frame expired.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  18   2   6    0    1   2   4   6      3    2   5  2   0  0   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  16   1   5    0    1   0   0   2      1    1   2  2   3  2   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  26   1   6    1    4   0   0   3      0    3   3  1   0  1   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  31   6   8    0    0   1   1  13      2    7   9  0   0  1   5   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  30   8  18    2    6   0   0  18      2    0   2  3   2  1   0   1
10 Okaro White              22   2   6    0    1   5   6   9      3    2   5  5   2  0   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            24   2   4    0    0   2   6   6      1    3   4  3   2  3   0   1
30 Ian Miller               25   2   6    1    2   2   4   7      1    2   3  2   2  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 8   1   4    0    0   0   1   2      3    1   4  2   0  0   0   0
   Team                                                                4   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  25  63    4   15  12  22  66     16   25  41 20  11  8   5   2
   Opp                     200  22  52   13   28  17  26  74     11   25  36 23  12 11   1   4


  1 2 Total
Duke
39
35
74
Florida State
32
34
66
Attendance: 12,100

Miami 78, Florida State 62
02/26/2012, Coral Gables

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

No. 15 FSU Drops Road Game to Miami, 78-62.

The Florida State men's basketball team falls in back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference games for the first time since 2010.

CORAL GABLES, FL -- Unable to defend the perimeter again, Florida State never managed to take advantage of the hole in the middle of Miami's lineup.

Now, the 15th-ranked Seminoles have their first losing streak of the Atlantic Coast Conference season.

Durand Scott scored 17 points and Miami hit seven 3-pointers in the second half to beat Florida State 78-62 on Sunday night, snapping a six-game losing streak to its in-state rival.

The Hurricanes went 7 of 13 from beyond the arc in the second half and 9 of 20 overall, three days after No. 5 Duke shot 13 of 28 on 3s in a victory at Florida State.

"For the second time in a row, teams have shot the lights out against us," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Sometimes teams don't shoot their normal percentage against you. This was not one of those days. They were exceptionally accurate from the perimeter."

Michael Snaer scored 20 points on a sore ankle to lead Florida State (19-9, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), which had won 11 of 12 against Miami.

Snaer left for the locker room in the final 5:07 of the first half with an injured ankle.

"I just tweaked it a bit. It's been bothering me all year," he said. "I just had to go in and get it more taped. I think it affected my play a little bit today. I just had to fight through it. When I came back in they had the momentum and kept running with it."

Kenny Kadji had 15 points for the short-handed Hurricanes (17-10, 8-6), who pulled into a tie with Virginia for fourth place in the conference standings.

Miami played without starting center Reggie Johnson, declared ineligible by the school an hour before the game after an investigation revealed members of his family had received benefits not allowed under NCAA rules. According to a statement released by the university, "Johnson was unaware of the benefits and his family was told they were permissible by a member of the former basketball coaching staff."

Miami is seeking a quick resolution from the NCAA in an attempt to reinstate Johnson, who is averaging 10.6 points per game.

"It's my understanding that Reggie and his family didn't know of any impermissible benefit," coach Jim Larranaga said. "It was somebody else."

The Seminoles rallied from a 59-42 deficit with 5:07 remaining and got within 65-58 on Snaer's two free throws with 2:39 left.

Scott, Kadji and Shane Larkin each hit two free throws in the next 58 seconds as Miami increased the lead to 71-58. Larkin finished with 13 points.

"We just tried to put everything on the line and try to claw our way back," Snaer said. "They knew we were going to come back with that type of firepower and aggressiveness on defense."

The Hurricanes expanded a four-point halftime lead and outscored the Seminoles 14-8 in the first 5:15 of the second half. Rion Brown hit the fourth 3-pointer in Miami's early second-half spurt to increase the lead to 38-28.

"I thought in the second half, they got their momentum going with their 3s," Hamilton said. "That kind of gave them confidence and we couldn't get anything going offensively."

The Hurricanes rallied from an eight-point deficit and took the lead for good with a 13-2 run in the final 4:34 of the first half. Scott scored seven points during the surge and his layup with 22 seconds remaining gave the Hurricanes a 24-20 lead at halftime.

"It's our rivalry game," Scott said. "To get a quality win like that, it's great. And I'm sure the rest of the team feels the same way."

Okaro White scored four points during an 8-0 run for the Seminoles midway through the first half. White's basket with 5:37 remaining capped the spurt and gave Florida State an 18-11 lead.

Miami was held scoreless for a 7:03 stretch until Scott made the second of two free throw attempts with 4:34 left to cut the Seminoles' lead to 18-12.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  13   1   2    0    0   2   2   4      2    1   3  3   2  1   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  26   0   4    0    3   0   0   0      0    3   3  4   4  3   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  25   3   6    1    4   3   4  10      1    3   4  5   1  2   2   2
 5 Bernard James         f  33   4   8    0    0   0   1   8      3    6   9  2   1  1   2   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  36   7  13    3    5   3   4  20      5    3   8  2   4  4   0   1
10 Okaro White              18   2   5    0    1   0   2   4      0    4   4  5   1  2   1   0
12 Jeff Peterson            15   2   5    0    3   0   0   4      0    0   0  2   0  3   0   0
24 Antwan Space              2   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  1   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               24   5  13    1    6   1   3  12      1    1   2  3   0  2   0   2
31 Terry Whisnant            5   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    0   0  2   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 3   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
   Team                                                                1   1                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  59    5   23   9  16  62     12   23  35 29  13 18   5   5
   Opp                     200  23  47    9   20  23  34  78      7   25  32 17  11 13   7   7


  1 2 Total
Florida State
20
42
62
Miami
24
54
78
Attendance: 7,261

Florida State 63, Virginia 60
03/01/2012, Charlottesville, Va.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Miller Time!

Another game, another buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the No. 22 FSU men's basketball team. This time it was Ian Miller who played hero in the 'Noles' 63-60 win at No. 24 Virginia Thursday night.

By: Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- For a team that has made a habit out of hitting game-winning 3-pointers, this was a new one for No. 22 Florida State.

Like the buzzer-beating wins over Duke and Virginia Tech, FSU's 63-60 victory at No. 24 Virginia Thursday ended the same way with a clutch long-range jumper. But on a night when the Seminoles (20-9, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) were looking to avoid their first three-game ACC losing streak since 2008, it wasn't Michael Snaer that took the final shot and Bernard James wasn't there to set a well-timed screen or celebrate with his teammates.

Instead, Ian Miller played the role of hero this time as his 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left gave the 'Noles their fourth-consecutive 20-win season and capped off an impressive comeback after it seemed like the garnet-and-gold colored wheels had fallen off following James' ejection.

FSU's senior center was tossed from the game after he half-heartedly but intentionally kicked Virginia's Joe Harris with 4:58 remaining. James' uncharacteristic play occurred before the Cavaliers (21-8, 8-7) increased their lead to 58-47 20 seconds later.

But despite the loss of its best post player, FSU's guard-heavy lineup -- and perhaps the team's emotional response to James' impromptu absence -- erased the 11-point deficit and closed the game on a 13-2 run.

In that time span, not only did Florida State get nine points from Miller but the Seminoles also forced four Virginia turnovers.

"It was like, `It's on now,'" Snaer said. "They messed up. They shouldn't have ever threw BJ out of the game. That was the mistake they made. The fans were like, `Yes. BJ's gone. We can attack them.' No, because we just get even more mad, We just get even more fuel.

"We're a fuel team. We're an angry team and when we're angry, we can hurt you."

Miller's nine points in the final minutes were indicative of his second-half performance in Charlottesville, Va. The sophomore guard scored 15 of his team-best 18 points in the second period while shooting 5-of-8 from 3-point range all game.

And none were bigger of course than his final three as his deep triple was made despite good defense by Cavs guard Sammy Zeglinksi -- another anomaly in FSU's year of buzzer-beaters as Snaer's two game-winners were both registered when he was wide open.

"When it left my hand, I knew it was good," Miller said.

As for Snaer, he and Xavier Gibson combined for 12 points apiece and the Seminoles shot 51.1-percent from the floor. Virginia, which was 17-0 in games that it scored at least 60 points prior to Thursday night, shot 45.4 percent and was out-rebounded 25-17.

Mike Scott scored 28 points for the Cavaliers but he was held to just one shot attempt during the 'Noles' late-game run to victory.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         c  29   5   7    0    0   2   3  12      0    5   5  3   0  5   0   1
 3 Luke Loucks           g  25   0   3    0    1   1   2   1      0    1   1  1   4  3   0   2
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  23   1   4    1    3   2   2   5      1    4   5  1   1  2   2   2
 5 Bernard James         f  27   3   5    0    0   1   1   7      2    4   6  1   2  1   0   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  33   5  11    0    3   2   2  12      3    1   4  0   1  0   0   2
10 Okaro White              11   1   2    1    1   1   2   4      0    1   1  5   0  1   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            15   2   2    0    0   0   0   4      0    0   0  2   1  1   0   0
24 Antwan Space              1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               28   6  10    5    8   1   1  18      0    3   3  1   2  2   0   2
50 Jon Kreft                 8   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  2   0  3   0   0
   Team                                                           1    1   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  23  45    7   16  10  13  63      7   20  27 16  11 18   2   9
   Opp                     200  20  44    4    9  16  20  60      6   15  21 17  13 15   3   8


  1 2 Total
Florida State
29
34
63
Virginia
20
40
60
Attendance: 11,807

Florida State 80, Clemson 72
03/04/2012, Tallahassee

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Snaer Day.

Junior Michael Snaer scores a career-high 23 as No. 22 FSU's six seniors -- Luke Loucks, Bernard James, Xavier Gibson, Deividas Dulkys, Xavier Gibson and Jon Kreft -- go out in style with a 80-72 senior-day win over Clemson.

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- It's record and accomplishments speak for themselves and its conference-tournament seeding was already locked in, but the No. 22 Florida State men's basketball team still had something to accomplish against Clemson.

FSU wanted a win for its six seniors playing in their final game at the Donald L. Tucker Center and to match the school record for most Atlantic Coast Conference victories in a season. The Seminoles probably wanted to enact a little payback for a 20-point loss at Clemson in January that threatened to derail its ACC schedule before it ever got started, too.

And in a 80-72 win, Florida State (21-9, 12-4 ACC) accomplished all three of those goals as it capped off the 2011-12 regular season Sunday.

But it almost slipped away.

FSU led by 16 at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead throughout much of the second half. But because of their ability to grab offensive rebounds and register second-chance points, the Tigers (16-14, 9-9) eventually chipped FSU's lead to just 75-72 with 30 seconds left.

Fittingly, though, the 'Noles closed the door on any successful Clemson comeback by doing what it did so well all day in the final half-minute: making baskets. Michael Snaer hit both of his free-throw attempts and Luke Loucks made three of his four while the defense stymied Clemson to preserve the win.

"I am just glad we won," said Loucks, one of those six FSU seniors. "It would be a terrible feeling to walk out of that gym one last time with a loss so it was a great day."

Loucks was one of three seniors to score in double figures. His 10 points were aided by 13 points apiece from fellow final-year players Bernard James and Xavier Gibson.

James also had 11 rebounds and sophomore Ian Miller added 11 points thanks to a 3-for-6 mark from 3-point range.

For as much as the trio of seniors and the one rising-star youngster did, Snaer had the game of his career. The junior scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and a 5-for-7 mark from long distance.

He also eclipsed 1,000 points for his career.

"That's a tremendous accomplishment for a junior," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

Snaer's impressive shooting was a theme for the Seminoles Sunday -- in particular the first half.

FSU shot 64 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from 3-point land in the opening period. The team finished the game with a more realistic but-still-potent 50 percent overall shooting mark.

Florida State's offensive prowess ultimately helped offset Clemson's resiliency. Both teams finished tied in rebounds with 37 but the Tigers had 17 offensive boards and scored 18 second-chance points.

"When they shoot the ball like they did tonight they are very hard to beat," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.

Added James, when asked if that was the best FSU had played in a first half all season: "Pretty close to it. We were clicking on all cylinders in the first half."

Senior Jeff Peterson started in place of Snaer as part of a senior-day recognition but that didn't stop the latter from filling up the box score early.

Snaer hit four of FSU's eight 3-pointers in an opening half that saw the Seminoles shoot 64 percent from the field and build a 49-33 lead. The 'Noles' 49 points were their third-highest first-half output all season.

FSU would finish with 11 3-pointers -- one away from tying its season high.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  27   5   7    1    1   2   2  13      2    6   8  3   0  1   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  23   2   4    1    3   5   6  10      0    2   2  4   4  1   1   1
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  19   1   2    1    1   0   0   3      0    2   2  1   2  4   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  29   4   6    0    0   5   6  13      6    5  11  2   0  3   3   1
12 Jeff Peterson         g  20   1   3    0    1   0   1   2      0    4   4  2   3  1   0   0
10 Okaro White              16   1   4    0    0   1   2   3      1    1   2  1   1  1   1   0
21 Michael Snaer            32   8  16    5    7   2   3  23      0    5   5  0   1  4   0   1
30 Ian Miller               27   4   9    3    6   0   0  11      0    1   1  2   3  2   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 7   0   1    0    0   2   2   2      0    0   0  0   0  1   0   0
   Team                                                           1    1   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  26  52   11   19  17  22  80     10   27  37 15  14 18   5   3
   Opp                     200  30  73    6   24   6   8  72     17   20  37 21  10 12   2  11


  1 2 Total
Clemson
33
39
72
Florida State
49
31
80
Attendance: 8,142

Florida State 82, Miami 71
03/09/2012, ACC, Atlanta, Ga.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer FSU Ices Miami in Hotlanta.

The free-throw line proves kind in the No. 17 'Noles' 82-71 win over the 'Canes Friday night in Atlanta as a rematch with Duke in the ACC Tournament's semifinal round looms Saturday at 3 p.m.

ATLANTA, GA -- Florida State made sure its time in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament will continue and in the process may have effectively ended the season of its in-state rival late Friday night.

The third-seeded Seminoles beat Miami, 82-71, at Philips Arena in a quarterfinals game that was closer than the score may indicate. Likely in need of at least one more win in Atlanta for an NCAA Tournament berth after beating Georgia Tech in the first round, the Hurricanes (19-12) couldn't stop FSU (22-9) from making its free throws down the stretch.

Clinging to a 62-59 lead with 3:44 left in the game, the Seminoles made 14 of their final 16 attempts from the free-throw line.

Of those final 12 shots from the charity stripe, senior guard Luke Loucks made eight on eight attempts.

"It's always nice when teams try to foul you and you can make free throws at the end and get stops on the other end," said guard Michael Snaer, who hit all four of his foul shots in the final moments. "It's always nice to do that. I think we were really keyed in. I know I was because I knew that any free throw could have meant the game for us."

Snaer led all scorers with 20 points thanks to more hot shooting from 3-point range. Snaer was 5-of-8 from 3-point range for a Seminoles team that hit nine long-distance shots. Over the past two games, Snaer has made 10 of his 15 attempts from 3-point land.

Snaer was one of five Seminoles to score in double figures as Ian Miller came off the bench to tie his career high with 18 points. Loucks and Bernard James both scored 14 points and Okaro White added 11.

Loucks also had five assists and James had seven rebounds.

The Seminoles outscored the Hurricanes 31-13 in bench points, which helped balance out Miami's ability to register 20 second-chance points compared to FSU's four. Florida State also had more assists than turnovers (13:11) -- its first positive assist-to-turnover ratio since the Feb. 23 loss to Duke at home.

For the game, the 'Noles shot 48 percent from the field and 56 percent from 3-point distance.

Malcolm Grant led Miami in scoring with 19 points. The Hurricanes were without Durand Scott, who was ruled eligible by the NCAA prior to tip-off. Scott had scored a combined 29 points in Miami's two previous games against FSU this year.

Miami cut FSU's eight-point halftime lead to 43-40 in the second half before the 'Noles answered with a six-point run. The Hurricanes then chipped away with their own 6-1 run before Snaer hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night to make it 53-46 with 8:40 left in the game.

James' and-one play then pushed the Seminoles' lead to 60-52 with 5:25 left before Grant hit a 3-pointer and Kenny Kadji's jumper with four minutes left had the Hurricanes within three before FSU's free-throw shooting took over.

Friday's game ended just a few minutes before midnight so Florida State will have a quick turnaround before it plays against Duke at 3 p.m. Saturday. The No. 2-seed Blue Devils defeated Virginia Tech, 60-56, in the game before the FSU-Miami matchup.

"We'll have 15 hours and I guess they'll have 12 hours" to prepare, FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I don't think it will be that much big of a difference. You can't worry about those kinds of things this time of year."

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  10   0   2    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  2   0  1   2   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  28   2   3    2    2   8   8  14      0    5   5  1   5  1   2   2
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  20   1   6    1    4   0   0   3      0    2   2  4   3  0   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  28   6  12    0    0   2   4  14      3    4   7  1   0  1   1   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  33   5   7    4    5   6   6  20      0    4   4  1   2  1   0   1
10 Okaro White              30   3   5    1    1   4   6  11      0    3   3  3   0  2   1   1
12 Jeff Peterson            12   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  1   1  3   0   0
30 Ian Miller               28   6  11    1    4   5   8  18      0    3   3  2   2  2   0   1
50 Jon Kreft                11   1   3    0    0   0   0   2      2    1   3  0   0  0   2   0
   Team                                                           2    1   3                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  50    9   16  25  32  82      7   24  31 15  13 11   8   6
   Opp                     200  26  64   10   25   9  13  71     15   23  38 23  13 11   3   2


  1 2 Total
Florida State
36
46
82
Miami
27
44
71
Attendance: 19,520

Florida State 62, Duke 59
03/10/2012, ACC, Atlanta, Ga.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

Headed to the 'Ship.

No. 17 Florida State navigates past Duke in a 62-59 win as the Seminoles advance to Sunday's ACC Championship Game against No. 4 North Carolina.

ATLANTA, GA -- The last time the Atlantic Coast Conference held its annual men's basketball tournament in Atlanta, Florida State advanced to the first league championship-game in school history.

Three years later and in the same city, the No. 17 Seminoles are headed there again.

FSU defeated No. 6 Duke, 62-59 Saturday at Philips Arena in a game that featured 1- lead changes and eight tied scores. The third-seeded 'Noles (23-9) will now play No. 1 seed North Carolina Sunday at 1 p.m. with a conference title hanging in the balance.

Florida State has the opportunity to compete for its first ACC Championship because it withstood a patented Blue Devils (27-6) rally in the final seconds with an equal mixture of clutch offense and trustworthy defense.

After Austin Rivers' bucket cut the Seminoles' lead to 60-59, senior guard Luke Loucks buried a long two-point shot with 11.9 seconds left. Then on the opposite end, junior guard Michael Snaer's suffocating defense prevented Rivers from connecting on a game-tying 3-pointer.

"I was kind of reading [Duke's Josh Hairston]," Loucks said about the ball-screen play that led to his final shot. "I think Okaro [White] was going to come and screen again and I just kind of waved him off. [Hairston] gave me enough room to get off a decent shot. Fortunate for me and the team it went in."

After Rivers' miss, the loose ball rolled out of bounds as the possession arrow switched back to FSU and the Seminoles quickly called their final timeout.

On the ensuing inbounds play, Jeff Peterson was forced to heave the ball down the court where it was snagged by Seth Curry. As quickly as Duke's guard grabbed the ball he launched a near-half-court shot that would have tied the game at the buzzer before just barely rimming out.

"I thought Seth's shot was going in," Duke coach Mike Kryzyzewski admitted afterwards -- a sentiment that was shared by Curry and FSU's players in the locker room during post-game interviews.

Snaer led FSU in scoring with 16 points. He also had the most blocks (two), assists (six) and steals (two) of any Seminole on Saturday.

In three games against Duke this season -- two of which resulted in FSU wins -- Snaer scored 50 points and registered one still-talked about game-winner.

"He's just a damn good player," Kryzyzewski said. "He's an outstanding athlete; smart. I think he's the best competitor in our league and he wants to play defense."

Despite sustaining a torn ligament in his thumb Friday against Miami, Bernard James scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Loucks finished with nine points, six rebounds and four assists and Okaro White added nine points and seven rebounds.

The Seminoles shot 42 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free-throw line while Duke was held to 37-percent shooting and a 25-percent clip from 3-point range while committing 16 turnovers.

FSU also out-rebounded Duke 34-33 and scored 34 points in the paint to the Blue Devils' 24. Florida State added 19 points off turnovers and seven on fast breaks.

"That's the kind of effort that we needed and that's the kind of effort our guys showed tonight," Snaer said about FSU's advantage in the "hustle" categories.

Florida State opened the second half with a 10-2 run that pushed its halftime advantage from 33-31 to 43-33. But Duke's own 12-7 run as the 'Noles strung together a couple of bad offensive possessions trimmed that lead to 49-47 with 7:45 left in the game.

Duke then captured its first lead of the second after Seth Curry sank two free throws with 5:03 left to give the Blue Devils a 54-53 lead. After a Loucks-to-James alley-oop on the other end, Rivers's and-one put Duke back on top before Snaer continued the back and forth with his first and only 3-pointer of the game.

Up 58-57 with 1:43 left to play, Ian Miller drew his fifth and final foul while trying to drive to the basket but FSU got a stop on the other end as Mason Plumlee drew his fourth foul going for an offensive rebound.

Plumlee was then called for his fifth foul while trying to draw with one minute left and Loucks hit both of his 1-and-1 free-throw attempts.

"We needed one stop and we just couldn't get that stop and they executed and we didn't stop," Kryzyzewski said. "It was a heck of a game."

FSU now turns its attention to No. 4 North Carolina, a team it walloped 90-57 in mid-January.

Despite that convincing victory and the two wins over Duke this season, there's still a lot for the Seminoles to prove.

"We are trying to change the culture at Florida State; get people to take us seriously," James said. "Look at us as basketball school [and] not just give the ACC to Duke and North Carolina every year. We definitely want to play them to prove that we belong at the top of the ACC."

Winning the first ACC Championship in school history would surely satisfy that goal.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  15   2  11    0    1   0   0   4      1    0   1  3   1  1   1   1
 3 Luke Loucks           g  31   3   6    1    1   2   2   9      2    4   6  2   4  4   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  28   1   6    0    3   0   0   2      2    2   4  1   0  0   0   1
 5 Bernard James         f  31   5   8    0    0   3   4  13      3    4   7  2   1  1   1   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  36   7  12    1    2   1   2  16      3    1   4  2   6  1   2   2
10 Okaro White              25   3   6    0    1   3   4   9      3    4   7  2   0  1   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            10   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   1  2   0   0
30 Ian Miller               15   2   6    1    3   2   2   7      0    0   0  5   0  3   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 9   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      0    2   2  0   0  0   1   0
   Team                                                           1    2   3         1        
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  57    3   11  11  14  62     15   19  34 17  13 14   5   4
   Opp                     200  19  51    5   20  16  18  59     12   18  30 17   7 16   6   7


  1 2 Total
Florida State
33
29
62
Duke
31
28
59
Attendance: 19,520

Florida State 85, North Carolina 82
03/11/2012, ACC Championship, Atlanta, Ga.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Nole-One Better: FSU Wins First ACC Tournament.

Florida State downs North Carolina for a second time this season, 85-82.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Goodbye, Tobacco Road. The Atlantic Coast Conference championship is heading to the Sunshine State.

Tournament MVP Michael Snaer scored 18 points and 17th-ranked Florida State used a barrage of 3-pointers to beat No. 4 North Carolina 85-82 for the ACC championship Sunday.

Florida State (24-9), which joined the ACC in 1991, won the men's basketball crown for the first time, showing its 33-point blowout of the Tar Heels during the regular season was no fluke.

But this one went to the wire, as North Carolina (29-5) nearly came all the way back from a 16-point deficit in the first half. P.J. Hairston missed a tying 3 at the buzzer.

It was the first time since Maryland's title in 2004 that a team outside the state of North Carolina won the tournament.

Florida State hit 11 of 22 from 3-point range, which turned out to be the difference. North Carolina went 5 of 20 from beyond the arc, including Kendall Marshall potential game-winning shot with 5 seconds to go.

Harrison Barnes led North Carolina with 23 points, while Tyler Zeller had 19 points and 12 rebounds.

It was only the second time in the last 16 years that a team other than North Carolina or Duke has won the ACC tournament. This one went to a school best known for football and its haunting chant.

Even though the crowd at Philips Arena was predominantly wearing Tar Heel blue, the familiar cry came through loud and clear as the Seminoles hopped around in the middle of the court, hugging in a raucous celebration as streamers and confetti fell from the ceiling.

Kendall Marshall hit a 3-pointer with 30.1 seconds remaining to pull North Carolina within 83-82, and the Tar Heels had a chance to go for the win after Okaro White's 1-and-1 free throw clanked off the side of the rim.

Instead of pounding the ball inside, a wide-open Marshall elected to put up another trey with five seconds left. This one missed, the Seminoles rebounded and North Carolina quickly fouled. Marshall, who nearly had his third straight double-double of the tournament with 15 points and nine assists, tugged at his jersey with head down as he headed back down the court.

Marshall appeared to try a bit of gamesmanship as Deividas Dulkys went to the line for another 1-and-1 with 3.9 seconds to go. The guard ran in to scream instructions to his teammates just as the Florida State player was buckling his knees to put up the first attempt. Nothing but net. Dulkys made the second one, too, but the Tar Heels had one more chance.

Zeller inbounded to Hairston at midcourt and he quickly called a timeout. Only six-tenths of a second went off the clock, and North Carolina inbounded again from a more favorable position. Hairston got a decent look at the tying shot, a long, straight-on 3. But it bounced off the side of the rim.

Snaer made all but one of his five 3-pointers, while Dulkys finished 4 of 9 outside the arc in a 16-point performance. Luke Loucks and Ian Miller added 10 points apiece for the Seminoles.

Hairston had 13 points and was North Carolina's most effective 3-point weapon, going 3 of 7 from long range. The Tar Heels played their second straight game without ACC defensive player of the year John Henson, who was in uniform but couldn't go because of an injured left wrist.

Florida State lit it up from the outside, especially in the opening half. Snaer made all three of his attempts from beyond the arc and Dulkys knocked down 3 of 7 from long range.

Dulkys and Snaer swished back-to-back treys to give the Seminoles their largest lead, 47-31--about halfway to their margin of a 90-57 blowout in Tallahassee, with still just three minutes left in the opening half. North Carolina burned a timeout and managed to turn things around, closing the period on a 9-2 spurt that made the score more manageable at the break.

Barnes finally connected on the Tar Heels' first 3 of the half, then buried another jumper after Dulkys put up an airball on a wild shot from the corner. Suddenly looking flustered and struggling just to hang on to the ball, Florida State called time but wound up turning the ball over when Bernard James was called for a moving pick.

Marshall scored on a right-handed floater, sending the blue-clad fans into a frenzy. But Florida State stemmed the momentum, Loucks whipping a nifty pass underneath to Jon Kreft for a dunk that snapped a 7-0 stretch for the Tar Heels.

Barnes hit another jumper with 5 seconds remaining, but North Carolina still went to the locker room racing its largest halftime deficit of the season, 49-40. The Tar Heels were only down by 8 midway through that debacle at Florida State, the worst loss of the Roy Williams era.

This one didn't turn out like that.

Actually, this one might have hurt even worse for the Tar Heels, who lost in the ACC championship game for the second year in a row.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  17   2   3    0    0   0   0   4      0    2   2  3   0  2   0   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  34   4   8    2    4   0   0  10      1    5   6  2  13  6   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  35   4  11    4    9   4   4  16      0    4   4  3   3  1   0   0
 5 Bernard James         f  25   4   5    0    0   1   2   9      3    3   6  2   1  1   5   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  30   7  13    4    5   0   0  18      0    1   1  2   2  1   1   1
10 Okaro White              17   4   6    0    1   1   2   9      0    2   2  4   0  0   0   1
12 Jeff Peterson             5   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  1   0  2   0   0
30 Ian Miller               20   4   6    1    3   1   2  10      0    1   1  1   2  2   0   0
31 Terry Whisnant            2   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                15   4   4    0    0   1   1   9      2    2   4  1   0  0   0   1
   Team                                                                4   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  33  56   11   22   8  11  85      6   24  30 19  21 15   6   4
   Opp                     200  28  71    5   20  21  24  82     19   20  39 14  12  7   1   7


  1 2 Total
Florida State
49
36
85
North Carolina
40
42
82
Attendance: 19,520

Florida State 66, Saint Bonaventure 63
03/16/2012, NCAA, Nashville, Tenn.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer

James Leads Comeback, FSU Into 3rd Round.

Third-seeded FSU needed every one of Bernard James' career-high 19 points in a 66-63 come-from-behind win over St. Bonaventure in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday.

NASHVILLE, TN -- With its leading scorer uncharacteristically corralled and its magical postseson run on the brink of a premature ending, the No. 10 Florida State men's basketball team put its championship hopes on Bernard James' broad shoulders.

And FSU's 6-foot-10 senior center delivered.

In a 66-63 come-from-behind win over 14th-seeded St. Bonaventure Friday in Nashville, Tenn., James' career-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting prevented the potential bracket-busting upset. It also helped mask what was the rarest of days for Seminoles (25-9) junior guard Michael Snaer, who was held scoreless for the first time in his collegiate career.

"We really needed our bigs to step up and I was able to get some post catches and finish some plays," James said. "Get a couple of offensive put-backs on rebounds. I just like felt like I did what my team needed. I played as hard as I could."

James' biggest put-back of the game was his dunk after Luke Loucks' contested and missed lay-up with 6:54 left in the game and the 'Noles trailing 50-52 to a St. Bonaventure (20-12) team that had led since scoring the first basket of the ballgame.

Tied at 52-52 following James' slam, sophomore Ian Miller shrugged off his own shooting woes to coldly sink a 3-pointer with 5:06 left in the ballgame to give FSU its first lead and one it wouldn't relinquish.

"Ian really has no conscience shooting the ball," Loucks said. "Sometimes that will get him in trouble but that's what he's in the game for. He's an unbelievable scorer. He can score in bunches and every time he's open I don't think anyone would argue we want him to shoot the ball."

Miller wasn't the only 'Noles player to step up in the most crucial of moments. After Loucks hit a 3-pointer to extended FSU's lead to 58-52, sophomore Okaro White's dunk punctuated his team's 12-0 run.

But White wasn't done.

After Bonnies star forward and projected first-round NBA draft pick Andrew Nicholson made a 3-pointer with 1:45 left, White answered with his own make from long distance. Then, after Demetrius Conger drilled a 3-pointer cut St. Bonaventure's deficit to just 65-63 and Deividas Dulkys missed a free-throw on the one-and-one attempt, White came to the rescue with a flying offensive rebound.

Loucks was then intentionally fouled and made one free throw and the FSU defense answered by stifling the Bonnies on their final possession to preserve the comeback win.

"That single play was the most important play of the game," Loucks said about White's timely rebound.

Loucks finished the day with 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and three steals while White aded nine points. Both Miller and Dulkys scored eight points apiece.

Snaer's goose egg in the box score was the biggest anomaly for the 'Noles in Nashville. Not only had he never been held scoreless before but he had scored in double figures in eight consecutive games and 26 of FSU's 33 contests prior to Friday.

Florida State's leading scorer may have had an off day but St. Bonaventure's top player was certainly "on" against FSU.

Nicholson finished with a game-best 20 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point distance. But after starting 7-of-9 from the floor, Nicholson missed 10 consecutive shots and only made three shots total in the second half.

As a team, St. Bonaventure shot just 35.5 percent in the second half after the starting the game shooting 46.2 percent in the opening period. The Bonnies' hot shooting had FSU in an unfamiliar position at halftime: trailing. FSU hadn't been at a disadvantage at the break since losing on the road to Miami -- a span of five games.

"Their the fifth-best defensive team in the country," Bonnies coach Mark said, before giving credit to his own scrappy team for being in position to win against the champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Florida State will now play sixth-seeded Cincinnati Sunday after the Bearcats defeated Texas, 65-59, in the early game at Bridgestone Arena.

The athletic Cincinnati squad presents another challenge for an FSU team has faced quite a few of those this season.

"We are battled tested," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  16   2   4    0    0   0   0   4      1    1   2  1   0  2   2   2
 3 Luke Loucks           g  32   3   5    2    3   5   6  13      0    7   7  1   6  4   2   3
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  25   3   7    2    6   0   1   8      0    1   1  2   0  1   0   1
 5 Bernard James         f  33   8  11    0    0   3   4  19      4    5   9  3   0  4   3   1
21 Michael Snaer         g  23   0   7    0    5   0   0   0      0    4   4  3   1  0   0   0
10 Okaro White              24   3   6    1    1   2   2   9      2    1   3  3   0  0   2   0
12 Jeff Peterson            10   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    2   2  1   2  0   0   0
30 Ian Miller               28   3  10    2    4   0   0   8      0    0   0  0   4  0   0   2
31 Terry Whisnant            2   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 7   2   2    0    0   1   1   5      1    0   1  0   0  0   0   0
   Team                                                           1    1   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  53    7   19  11  14  66      9   22  31 14  13 11   9   9
   Opp                     200  23  57    7   14  10  13  63     14   23  37 16  16 13   3   9


  1 2 Total
Florida State
28
38
66
Saint Bonaventure
34
29
63
Attendance: 11,751

Cincinnati 62, Florida State 56
03/18/2012, NCAA, Nashville, Tenn.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

By Brandon Mellor, Seminoles.com Senior Writer.

FSU's Season Ends in 62-56 Loss to Cincinnati.

No. 10 Florida State can't advance to its second Sweet 16 in as many seasons as the Bearcats force 17 turnovers and score 19 points off those takeways Sunday in Nashville.

NASHVILLE, TN -- It took 19 lead changes to decide a winner but in the end, No. 10 Florida State's record-breaking 2011-12 season came to its hard-fought end in a 62-56 late-night loss to Cincinnati.

Riding a six-game winning streak and boasting the first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in school history, third-seeded FSU (24-10) simply couldn't handle the Bearcats' defensive pressure and ability to strip the ball.

Sixth-seeded Cincinnati (26-10) advanced to the Sweet 16 in large part because it forced 17 turnovers and scored 19 points off those takeaways.

"We had in the scouting report that they were what you would call a tremendous 'strip team,'" FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I thought they got a lot of deflections that led to baskets. Most of the time when you turn the ball over it's dead-ball situations."

Luke Loucks led the 'Noles in scoring in his final game with 14 points along with four assists. Fellow senior Bernard James added 12 points and three blocks, which made him the fist player in FSU history to register at least 80 blocks in consecutive seasons.

After not scoring in the Seminoles' 66-63 second-round win over St. Bonaventure Friday in Nashville, Tenn., junior Michael Snaer scored 11 points but only two of those occurred in the second half.

For the Bearcats, Sean Kilpatrick led all scorers with 18 points and Dion Dix scored 15. Yancy Gates scored 10 points for a Big East runner-up team that shot 19-of-50 from the floor -- a shooting mark that was identical to that of the 'Noles.

Snaer's running one-handed shot put FSU on top 43-41 after Gates had scored three on an and-one opportunity late in the second half.

After Kilpatrick and Loucks traded 3-pointers, Kilpatrick hit another long-range shot to give the Bearcats a 49-46 advantage. After a James dunk and Loucks free throws pushed the score to 50-49, the Bearcats generated what was their largest lead of the night on a 5-0 run.

Down 54-50 with 48.8 seconds left, FSU forced a turnover and potential momentum swing but sophomore Okaro White missed on a 3-point attempt and James picked up a foul on the offensive rebound attempt.

Following two Gates free throws, James added another dunk to trim the Seminoles' deficit to 56-52 with 28.9 seconds left.

But it proved to too little too late as the Bearcats made all eight of their free-throw attempts in the final 35 seconds.

"It's tough to go out like that but they are a great team," Snaer said.

It didn't take Snaer very long to bounce back from his first-game struggles. The junior hit three first-half 3-ponters for nine early points but the Seminoles as a team shot just 9-of-26 from the floor.

Cincinnati wasn't much better, shooting 8-for-29 but the Bearcats also added 11 fast-break points and made the most of FSU's 10 opening-period turnovers. Despite those numbers, the Seminoles took a 26-25 lead into halftime.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Xavier Gibson         f  16   2   4    0    0   0   0   4      1    1   2  1   1  2   3   0
 3 Luke Loucks           g  29   3   5    2    3   6   6  14      0    2   2  3   4  4   0   0
 4 Deividas Dulkys       g  33   3   4    1    2   1   2   8      1    2   3  4   3  2   0   3
 5 Bernard James         f  32   6  13    0    0   0   1  12      1    4   5  3   0  4   3   0
21 Michael Snaer         g  28   4  11    3    9   0   0  11      0    1   1  2   1  0   0   0
10 Okaro White              27   0   5    0    1   3   4   3      2    5   7  4   0  2   0   0
12 Jeff Peterson            11   1   3    0    1   2   2   4      1    1   2  1   1  0   0   1
30 Ian Miller               18   0   4    0    1   0   0   0      2    3   5  0   1  0   0   0
50 Jon Kreft                 6   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  2   0  3   2   1
   Team                                                           2    1   3                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  19  50    6   17  12  15  56     10   21  31 20  11 17   8   5
   Opp                     200  19  50    5   15  19  23  62     10   23  33 18  13 15   5  13


  1 2 Total
Florida State
26
30
56
Cincinnati
25
37
62
Attendance: 11,033