2013-14 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 Charlton Young, Assistant Coach  Click here to see individual photos |
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Xavier Rathan-Mayes, 6-4, 180, G, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Jarquez Smith, 6-9, 225, F, Haddock, Ga.
Marquez White, 6-0, 171, G, Dothan, Ala.
2014 Roster - By Name
L
T PY
R No Name Pos Hgt Wgt Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 40 Brandon Allen F 6-6 190 Fr Milton (Milton)
* 15 Boris Bojanovsky C 7-3 235 So * Bratislava, Slovak Republic (Oakley College)
* 1 Devon Bookert G 6-3 185 So * Anchorage, Alaska (West Anchorage)
* 32 Montay Brandon G 6-7 216 So * Greensboro, N.C. (Wesleyan Christian)
* 14 Robert Gilchrist F 6-9 220 Sr * London, England (Worcester Academy/Polk State College)
* 35 Joell Hopkins F 6-6 205 So-R Durham, N.C. (Ravenscroft/Tallahassee CC)
* 30 Ian Miller G 6-3 198 Sr *** Charlotte, N.C. (United Faith Christian Academy)
* 50 Michael Ojo C 7-1 292 So * Lagos, Nigeria (Tennessee Temple)
22 Xavier Rathan-Mayes G 6-4 180 Fr Scarborough, Ontario, Canada (Huntington Prep)
* 5 Jarquez Smith F 6-9 225 Fr Haddock, Ga. (Jones County)
* 25 Aaron Thomas G 6-5 195 So * Cincinnati, Ohio (Brewster Academy)
11 Kiel Turpin C 7-0 240 Sr-R * Normal, Ill. (Normal West/Lincoln College)
* 2 Marquez White G 6-0 171 Fr Dothan, Ala. (Northview)
* 10 Okaro White F 6-8 204 Sr *** Clearwater (Clearwater)
2014 Roster - By Number
L
T PY
R No Name Pos Hgt Wgt Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 1 Devon Bookert G 6-3 185 So * Anchorage, Alaska (West Anchorage)
* 2 Marquez White G 6-0 171 Fr Dothan, Ala. (Northview)
* 5 Jarquez Smith F 6-9 225 Fr Haddock, Ga. (Jones County)
* 10 Okaro White F 6-8 204 Sr *** Clearwater (Clearwater)
11 Kiel Turpin C 7-0 240 Sr-R * Normal, Ill. (Normal West/Lincoln College)
* 14 Robert Gilchrist F 6-9 220 Sr * London, England (Worcester Academy/Polk State College)
* 15 Boris Bojanovsky C 7-3 235 So * Bratislava, Slovak Republic (Oakley College)
22 Xavier Rathan-Mayes G 6-4 180 Fr Scarborough, Ontario, Canada (Huntington Prep)
* 25 Aaron Thomas G 6-5 195 So * Cincinnati, Ohio (Brewster Academy)
* 30 Ian Miller G 6-3 198 Sr *** Charlotte, N.C. (United Faith Christian Academy)
* 32 Montay Brandon G 6-7 216 So * Greensboro, N.C. (Wesleyan Christian)
* 35 Joell Hopkins F 6-6 205 So-R Durham, N.C. (Ravenscroft/Tallahassee CC)
* 40 Brandon Allen F 6-6 190 Fr Milton (Milton)
* 50 Michael Ojo C 7-1 292 So * Lagos, Nigeria (Tennessee Temple)
May 9, 2013 - Terrance Shannon transferred to Virginia Commonwealth.
May 11, 2013 - Terry Whisnant transferred to Coastal Carolina.
2013-14 Conference Awards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ian Miller Atlantic Coast Conference - Sixth Man
Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference - Honorable Mention
Aaron Thomas Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference - Honorable Mention
Okaro White Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Defensive Team
All-Conference - 3
2013-14 Noles in the Pros
Name No Pos Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toney Douglas 0 PG Golden State Warriors
Toney Douglas 0 PG Miami Heat
Bernard James 5 C Dallas Mavericks
Chris Singleton 31 SF Washington Wizards
Noles in the Pros - 3
2014 Schedule and Results
GAME |
SCORE |
AP |
USA |
AP |
USA |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | |||||||||||||
| Central Florida | |||||||||||||
| Tennessee-Martin | |||||||||||||
| VA Commonwealth Peurto Rico Tip-Off, San Juan, P.R. |
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| Michigan OT, Peurto Rico Tip-Off, San Juan, P.R. |
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| Northeastern Peurto Rico Tip-Off, San Juan, P.R. |
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| Florida | |||||||||||||
| Minnesota AAC-Big 10 Challenge |
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| Jacksonville State | |||||||||||||
| UNC-Charlotte | |||||||||||||
| Massachusetts Sunrise |
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| Charleston Southern | |||||||||||||
| Virginia | |||||||||||||
| Clemson | |||||||||||||
| Maryland | |||||||||||||
| Miami | |||||||||||||
| Virginia | |||||||||||||
| Notre Dame | |||||||||||||
| Duke | |||||||||||||
| North Carolina State | |||||||||||||
| Clemson | |||||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | |||||||||||||
| Maryland | |||||||||||||
| Miami | |||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | |||||||||||||
| North Carolina | |||||||||||||
| Pittsburgh | |||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | |||||||||||||
| Boston College | |||||||||||||
| Syracuse | |||||||||||||
| Maryland ACC, Greensboro, N.C. |
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| Virginia ACC, Greensboro, N.C. |
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| Florida Gulf Coast NIT |
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| Georgetown NIT, Sweet 16 |
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| Louisiana Tech NIT, Elite Eight |
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| Minnesota OT, Final Four, NIT, New York, N.Y. |
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EOY StatsRef Conference games in bold Overall Home Away Neutral ------------------------------------------------ FSU record is 22-14 11- 5 7- 6 4- 3 vs ACC 9- 9 3- 5 6- 4 0- 0 Against Top 25 2- 5 0- 1 0- 2 2- 2
2013-14 Atlantic Coast Conference Results 1 Virginia 16- 2 30- 7 2 Syracuse 14- 4 28- 6 3t Duke 13- 5 26- 9 3t North Carolina 13- 5 24-10 5 Pittsburgh 11- 7 26-10 6 Clemson 10- 8 23-13 7t Florida State 9- 9 22-14 7t Maryland 9- 9 17-15 7t North Carolina State 9- 9 22-14 10 Miami 7-11 17-16 11t Georgia Tech 6-12 16-17 11t Wake Forest 6-12 17-16 11t Notre Dame 6-12 15-17 14 Boston College 4-14 8-24 15 Virginia Tech 2-16 9-22
2013-14 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, Greensboro, N.C. Date Score Comments ========== ================================================== ================================== 03/12/2014 (12)Wake Forest 81, (13)Notre Dame 69 Round 1 03/12/2014 (10)Miami 57, (15)Virginia Tech 53 Round 1 03/12/2014 (11)Georgia Tech 73, (14)Boston College 70 Round 1 03/13/2014 (9)Florida State 67, (8)Maryland 65 Round 2 03/13/2014 (5)Pittsburgh 84, (12)Wake Forest 55 Round 2 03/13/2014 (7)North Carolina State 67, (10)Miami 58 Round 2 03/13/2014 (6)Clemson 69, (11)Georgia Tech 65 Round 2, OT 03/14/2014 (1)Virginia 64, (9)Florida State 51 Round 3 03/14/2014 (5)Pittsburgh 80, (4)North Carolina 75 Round 3 03/14/2014 (7)North Carolina State 66, (2)Syracuse 63 Round 3 03/14/2014 (3)Duke 63, (6)Clemson 62 Round 3 03/15/2014 (1)Virginia 51, (5)Pittsburgh 48 Round 4 03/15/2014 (3)Duke 75, (7)North Carolina State 67 Round 4 03/16/2014 (1)Virginia 72, (3)Duke 63 Round 5
2013-14 - 30 Point Club
Name Date Opponent FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- None2013-14 - 15 Rebound Club
Name Date Opponent O-REB D-REB TOTAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ None2013-14 - 10 Assist Club
Name Date Opponent Assists ------------------------------------------------------------------ None
--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
====================================================================================================================================
Aaron Thomas 36 16 1136 172 379 .454 39 105 .371 139 172 .808 522 14.5 36 116 152 4.2 88 3 65 88 11 57
Okaro White 36 35 1084 166 323 .514 24 64 .375 134 168 .798 490 13.6 75 168 243 6.8 108 7 34 68 40 27
Ian Miller 33 7 938 146 325 .449 65 163 .399 96 110 .873 453 13.7 11 72 83 2.5 64 1 92 96 1 24
Devon Bookert 36 27 986 100 240 .417 44 102 .431 61 78 .782 305 8.5 19 96 115 3.2 67 0 102 72 2 38
Montay Brandon 36 36 1060 92 221 .416 9 36 .250 83 135 .615 276 7.7 54 121 175 4.9 65 1 54 50 1 33
Boris Bojanovsky 36 21 740 77 131 .588 0 0 .000 57 84 .679 211 5.9 59 85 144 4.0 90 5 19 40 67 15
Robert Gilchrist 36 24 474 47 104 .452 3 9 .333 10 26 .385 107 3.0 27 39 66 1.8 47 0 8 30 20 11
Michael Ojo 36 14 428 35 64 .547 0 0 .000 20 47 .426 90 2.5 36 72 108 3.0 72 1 9 32 25 5
Jarquez Smith 34 0 343 32 73 .438 4 17 .235 13 25 .520 81 2.4 17 33 50 1.5 39 0 2 28 24 2
Brandon Allen 14 0 26 3 5 .600 2 2 1.00 2 2 1.00 10 0.7 2 2 4 0.3 6 0 0 3 0 1
Joell Hopkins 13 0 25 2 6 .333 0 2 .000 2 8 .250 6 0.5 1 2 3 0.2 3 0 0 1 0 0
Marquez White 6 0 10 1 2 .500 1 2 .500 0 0 .000 3 0.5 0 1 1 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 0
Team 55 57 112 3
====================================================================================================================================
FSU 36 873 1873 .466 191 502 .380 617 855 .722 2554 70.9 392 864 1256 34.9 650 18 385 512 191 213
Opp 36 824 2065 .399 228 694 .329 516 747 .691 2392 66.4 482 734 1216 33.8 746 30 402 453 129 239
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Hoop 'Noles Roll Over JU.
Balanced scoring, second half defense get season off on right foot.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - There was no shortage of bright spots as a healthy and hungry Florida State men's basketball team opened its 12th season under coach Leonard Hamilton with a 91-67 victory over Jacksonville Friday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
A strong second half defensive effort and no shortage of offensive contributors proved to be a winning combination as the Seminoles used a 17-5 run in the second half to build a 67-50 lead that the Dolphins never threatened.
"I'm not sure we played particularly well tonight but we scored 91 points and we won," Hamilton said after the Seminoles delivered him an 11th opening night win in 12 tries before a crowd of 5,761. It was FSU's 18th consecutive win over the Dolphins - a streak that dates to 1988.
Senior Okaro White led five Seminole double-figure scorers with 18 points and 11 rebounds and FSU limited the Dolphins to 30 points on 37-percent shooting in the second half. FSU's sophomore starting backcourt of Devon Bookert and Montay Brandon combined for 31 points on 10 of 19 shooting. Brandon had a career-high 15 points and Bookert knocked down 3 of 5 3-point attempts, grabbed nine rebounds and came away with a career-high five steals.
Slowed by a knee injury last season, Bookert's first half play was pivotal in getting the Seminoles off to a quick start.
"I just feel like it's a blessing that I get to play and that it healed up the right way," said Bookert, who scored 13 points in the first half, including the go-ahead jumper for a 29-28 lead with 5:12 remaining, which the `Noles never relinquished. "It feels great to play and be with all my teammates."
Entering his 26th season as a Division I head coach, Hamilton said he had seen marked individual improvement from each of his players. That clearly showed.
Senior Robert Gilchrist drilled a pair of late 3-pointers in his first start and finished with a career-high 10 points after earning his first career start. Aaron Thomas contributed 10 points and Ian Miller added eight - all in the second half - after sitting out both exhibition games.
"I definitely see that, and I definitely saw how hard they worked in the summer time," Bookert said of his teammates. "I knew the improvement would come because of how hard everyone had worked. We weren't really nervous, we were really just anxious to get it started."
White got off to a slow start offensively, but sparked a 16-8 surge with five points to close out the first half as the Seminoles built a comfortable 43-36 lead.
Brandon looked quite comfortable returning to his natural off-guard spot, driving to the basket and getting to the free throw line. He scored 11 first half points, including 10 in the midst of a 12-2 run by the `Noles after Bookert's go-ahead jumper.
"On the wing I can do a lot of things, not only on offense, but defense too," Brandon said. "Since I've been playing on the wing most of my life I feel a lot more comfortable. I wanted to get to the free throw line because I know once I start making free throws everything else starts coming together."
The Seminoles knocked down 19 of 28 free throw attempts on a night which saw both teams adjusting to more closely scrutinized contact away from the basket by the officials, a new emphasis this season.
After allowing the Dolphins to shoot nearly 45 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, FSU clamped down and limited the visitors to 30 points and 37-percent shooting after intermission.
The Seminoles held a commanding 41-28 rebounding advantage and forced 25 Jacksonville turnovers, which helped offset 20 of their own. Jarvis Haywood led the Dolphins with 15 points, but only four in the second half, when FSU took control.
"I was very excited to see how we looked as a team against good competition," said White. "We're pumped for the next game. We don't want to overlook anybody on our schedule ... We're not trying to take anything for granted and (want to) work as hard each day in practice to get as prepared for each game, like our football team is doing. They're getting prepared for each game and going out and showing how much better they are for everybody."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 32 6 12 3 5 1 2 16 1 8 9 3 2 1 0 5
10 Okaro White f 33 6 10 0 3 6 7 18 3 8 11 4 0 7 0 1
14 Robert Gilchrist f 23 4 5 2 3 0 0 10 0 2 2 4 2 3 0 1
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 16 2 4 0 0 1 2 5 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 0
32 Montay Brandon g 27 4 7 0 3 7 9 15 0 1 1 4 3 3 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 14 1 4 1 2 0 0 3 1 1 2 2 0 2 2 0
25 Aaron Thomas 16 5 10 0 1 0 0 10 1 2 3 2 2 1 0 3
30 Ian Miller 18 2 4 2 4 2 4 8 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 0
35 Joell Hopkins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 7 0 1 0 0 2 2 2 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 13 2 3 0 0 0 2 4 3 2 5 2 0 1 2 0
Team 1 2 3
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 32 60 8 21 19 28 91 13 28 41 25 14 20 5 11
Opp 200 23 56 6 16 15 27 67 11 17 28 22 11 25 2 9
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Noles Knock off Knights, 80-68.
Florida State men's basketball team earns early-season road victory Wednesday night in Orlando.
ORLANDO, FL -- The Florida State men's basketball team moved to 2-0 in this young season with an 80-68 victory Wednesday night at UCF.
Senior guard Ian Miller posted a game-high 18 points in the victorious effort, hitting all seven of his free-throw attempts while adding three rebounds and two steals.
Miller was one of four players to score in double figures for a 'Noles team that combatted 18 turnovers by shooting 50 percent from the field. Devon Bookert poured in 17 points, Okaro White had 13 and Robert Gilchrist scored 10 while playing a team-high 32 minutes in the post.
Wing players Aaron Thomas and Montay Brandon scored nine and seven, respectively, while Bookert dished out five assists from his point guard spot.
"We have so many players that can score at any time," Bookert said. "We have a lot of weapons to utilize offensively and that helped us tonight."
Brandon led the Seminoles with nine rebounds with Michael Ojo and Gilchrist combining for six boards apiece.
Calvin Newell and Kasey Wilson scored 15 each for the Knights (1-1) and star Isaiah Sykes was limited to just 5-of-15 shooting for 13 points.
FSU's defense looked like a typical Leonard Hamilton squad, forcing 20 UCF turnovers and holding the home team to 29.7-percent shooting from the field. The `Noles had 10 blocks.
Florida State next returns home to the Donald L. Tucker Center for a Sunday showdown with Tennessee-Martin at 2 p.m. FSU will wear special turquoise uniforms in that contest to honor the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Native American Heritage Month.
"Two games in and we are going to keep working," Bookert said. "We know leading into the next game, we have to work on boxing out better and preventing second-chance points."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 29 6 12 1 2 4 7 17 1 2 3 0 5 2 0 2
10 Okaro White f 26 4 7 1 1 4 6 13 2 2 4 2 1 3 4 1
14 Robert Gilchrist f 31 5 9 0 1 0 4 10 2 4 6 3 0 0 3 1
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 0
32 Montay Brandon g 24 3 7 0 1 1 2 7 1 8 9 2 3 1 0 2
5 Jarquez Smith 10 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
25 Aaron Thomas 30 3 5 0 0 3 4 9 0 2 2 3 3 5 1 3
30 Ian Miller 31 5 13 1 6 7 7 18 2 1 3 1 1 2 0 2
50 Michael Ojo 12 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 2 4 6 4 0 4 0 0
Team 3 2 5
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 29 58 3 11 19 31 80 13 27 40 18 13 18 10 11
Opp 200 25 63 7 19 11 21 68 17 21 38 22 10 20 5 8
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Central Florida |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Move to 3-0, March Past UT-Martin.
The Florida State men's basketball team beat the Skyhawks, 89-61, Sunday while wearing special turquoise Nike N7 uniforms.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Four players scored in double figures and Florida State defeated UT-Martin, 89-61, Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Senior guard Ian Miller scorched the Skyhawks (1-4), registering a career-high 20 points while not missing a shot. Miller was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 7-for-7 from the free-throw line while adding five assists and two rebounds. "Tonight was a blessing," Miller said afterwards. "I was just focused on finding my spots and taking efficient shots. I needed a game like this where I can make shots and be a creator for this team."
Miller wasn't the only one with the hot scoring touch.
Senior forward Okaro White scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting with four rebounds, two assists and two blocks and sophomore guard Devon Bookert finished with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting wi0th five assists and three steals.
Aaron Thomas was 5-of-8 from the field for 19 points and six steals. As a team, the Seminoles (3-0) shot 58.7 percent from the field and 45.4 percent from long distance.
Montay Brandon also added seven points while tying with Boris Bojanovsky for a team high in rebounds with six.
Conversely, UT-Martin was held to just 35.8-percent shooting and a 20 percent mark from 3-point range by the Florida State defense. FSU finished with seven blocks and 35 rebounds.
Against the Skyhawks, FSU wore special turquoise Nike N7 uniforms to raise awareness for bringing sport to Native American and Aboriginal youth.
"We feel good," Miller said. "I think in these first three games we really accomplished a lot and it has helped us get ready for the really good teams we are going to face down there."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 30 4 6 1 2 4 4 13 1 1 2 1 5 4 0 3
10 Okaro White f 21 7 8 0 0 3 4 17 1 3 4 3 2 3 2 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 19 1 2 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 15 1 2 0 0 2 2 4 2 4 6 1 0 1 1 1
32 Montay Brandon g 26 2 7 0 2 3 4 7 1 5 6 2 1 2 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 17 1 5 0 1 2 4 4 1 4 5 1 0 1 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 25 5 8 1 2 8 9 19 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 6
30 Ian Miller 27 5 5 3 3 7 7 20 0 2 2 0 5 2 0 0
35 Joell Hopkins 4 0 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
50 Michael Ojo 12 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 6 6 3 0 2 1 0
Team 2 2
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 27 46 5 11 30 39 89 8 28 36 13 15 19 7 11
Opp 200 24 68 4 21 9 10 61 15 18 33 28 9 19 0 6
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee-Martin | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Florida State Wears Down No. 10 VCU, 85-67.
Florida State cruised past No. 10 VCU on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
SAN JUAN, PR - Ian Miller scored 22 points and Devon Bookert added 18 to help Florida State cruise past No. 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. Montay Brandon added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Treveon Graham had 14 points to lead the Rams (3-1), who were denied their first 4-0 start since the 1993-94 season.
Florida State lost in overtime to Virginia Commonwealth in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2011 NCAA tournament. There would be no repeat this time as the Seminoles took control late in the first half and then used an 11-0 spurt to open the second half.
VCU also came in averaging more than 80 points per game and it made for a pace that was rapid from the outset.
The Seminoles played with more control, though, and got a dunk off a set inbounds play just before halftime, then kept that momentum coming out of the locker room. They led by 26 at one point.
Florida State led by 12 at the break, holding VCU to just 2 of 11 from the 3-point line and 10 of 33 shooting from the field.
The Seminoles had 13 first-half turnovers, but got 14 points from its starting front court to help keep the Rams out of transition.
VCU's full-court pressure did force FSU into mistakes, but its poor shooting kept them from capitalizing much.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 30 6 13 2 6 4 4 18 0 4 4 1 1 7 0 1
10 Okaro White f 27 4 7 0 0 6 6 14 3 6 9 3 1 3 3 2
14 Robert Gilchrist f 19 3 5 0 0 0 0 6 0 3 3 4 1 3 1 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 29 5 9 0 1 4 9 14 1 10 11 3 3 0 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 2 1 0 2 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 32 3 7 0 0 1 3 7 2 3 5 2 5 2 0 2
30 Ian Miller 30 6 11 2 6 8 8 22 1 6 7 3 4 5 0 1
35 Joell Hopkins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 15 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 6 6 1 0 0 2 0
Team 2 2 1
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 29 54 4 13 23 31 85 10 40 50 21 15 25 6 6
Opp 200 22 75 5 23 18 24 67 15 19 34 25 7 14 4 14
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| VA Commonwealth |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
FSU Falls to No. 14 Michigan in Overtime, 82-80.
The Florida State men's basketball team follows up its upset victory over No. 10 VCU with a near-victory over the Wolverines Friday in Puerto Rico.
SAN JUAN, PR -- Less than 24 hours after blowing out No. 10 VCU, the Florida State men's basketball nearly pulled off another Puerto Rico-Tip-Off stunner Friday night.
In an 82-80 overtime loss to the Wolverines (4-1), the Seminoles (4-1) saw a lead they hadn't relinquished since the 12:45 mark of the first half dissipate in the final few seconds of regulation before Michigan pulled away in the extra period.
FSU did a good job at protecting the basketball, but four of its 13 total turnovers occurred in the last several possessions of regulation. Michigan capitalized on those giveaways, erasing an eight-point `Noles' lead with 2:30 in the game.
Ian Miller led FSU in scoring with 19 points -- 16 of which came in the first half -- as the senior guard finished with a 7-of-13 shooting mark.
Okaro White added a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds and Montay Brandon continued his strong play with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.
The Seminoles also got 10 points from Boris Bojanovsky.
Defensively, Florida State allowed Nik Stauskas to post 23 of his 26 total points after halftime while Derrick Walton, Jr. and Glenn Robinson III combined for 28 points. Star Wolverines forwarded Mitch McGary finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Michigan shot 43.1-percent from the field compared to FSU's 52.5-percent clip.
The Seminoles took a 37-27 lead into the break and led by as much as 48-36 on Brandon's jumper with 12:50 left in the game before the Wolverines slowly began chipping away.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 33 2 5 1 3 2 2 7 0 1 1 1 3 3 0 0
10 Okaro White f 41 7 10 0 0 4 5 18 2 10 12 3 3 2 0 1
14 Robert Gilchrist f 11 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 29 5 7 0 0 0 0 10 1 2 3 5 0 1 3 1
32 Montay Brandon g 32 5 11 1 1 3 4 14 2 3 5 3 4 2 0 1
25 Aaron Thomas 27 1 6 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 3 1 2 0 2
30 Ian Miller 37 7 13 4 8 1 1 19 0 5 5 1 3 2 0 1
50 Michael Ojo 15 3 4 0 0 2 4 8 2 4 6 4 0 1 0 0
=========================================================================
FSU 5 225 31 59 6 12 12 16 80 7 27 34 20 14 13 4 6
Opp 225 28 65 9 24 17 27 82 15 24 39 14 19 7 3 6
| 1 | 2 | OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | ||||
| Michigan |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Seminoles Beat Northeastern at the Buzzer, 62-60.
Florida State finishes off the Puerto Rico Tip-Off with the win.
SAN JUAN, PR - Devon Bookert hit a 10-foot fade away jumper off a missed layup with 0.5 seconds to give Florida State a dramatic 62-60 win over Northeastern in the third place game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Sunday.
"I was just there and able to make a play," Bookert said. "God blessed me with that opportunity and it went in."
Northeastern's Scott Eatherton got off a desperation 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer, but it bounced harmlessly off the backboard.
Aaron Thomas had 16 points to lead Florida State, followed by Robert Gilchrist with 12.
The Seminoles (5-1) trailed the entire way before taking their first lead of the game with just under 14 minutes left in the game, then had to fight several final charges by the Huskies (2-4).
Eatherton finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds, his third double-double of the tournament. Reggie Spencer and David Walker each added 13 points.
Florida State took its first lead of the game at 13:43 on a basket by Robert Gilchrist that made it 41-39.
But the Huskies kept attacking the Seminoles' pressure and got a dunk by Derrico Peck to nudge back in front 50-46 with 7:32 remaining.
The Seminoles came right back, and got a steal and layup by Montay Brandon, and then a driving layup by Ian Miller to go back ahead by a basket at 52-50.
It stretched out to 58-52, but Florida State soon lost Okaro Whitet o his fifth foul at the 2:33 mark.
The Huskies took advantage and cut the lead to a basket on their next trip down the floor on another dunk by Peck. They then tied it at 58 in on a pair of free throws by Eatherton with just over a minute to play.
Florida State called timeout and took the shot clock down before getting Miller free for a short jumper. It rolled out, but Brandon was there for the tip to put the Seminoles back up.
Walker was fouled on the subsequent inbounds play and then tied it again with two free throws to set up Florida State's final possession. Northeastern led 28-28 at the half in pretty even opening 20 minutes that featured a pair of ties.
Scoring was spread out on both sides, with Eatherton leading all scorers with 10 points.
The Huskies also held a 20-18 rebounding edge over the Seminoles. Both teams also shot nearly identical percentages from the field. Northeastern connected on 41 percent of its attempts, and Florida State 42 percent.
Northeastern did have to play a chunk of the half without Peck, who was forced to the bench with his third foul after just eight minutes of action.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 18 3 4 1 1 0 0 7 2 2 4 0 1 1 0 0
10 Okaro White f 25 3 11 0 2 0 0 6 3 2 5 5 1 1 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 31 6 9 0 0 0 0 12 0 5 5 2 0 1 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 10 0 1 0 0 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 35 3 7 1 2 3 6 10 3 2 5 1 0 1 0 2
5 Jarquez Smith 15 1 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 1
25 Aaron Thomas 32 5 11 0 0 6 8 16 2 2 4 2 2 3 0 4
30 Ian Miller 25 2 10 0 3 2 2 6 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 6
50 Michael Ojo 9 0 2 0 0 1 4 1 2 2 4 3 0 1 1 0
Team 1 3 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 23 60 2 8 14 22 62 14 19 33 16 6 10 2 13
Opp 200 23 49 2 8 12 17 60 10 27 37 16 10 18 8 4
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Northeastern |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
FSU Drops Close Contest at No. 15 UF, 67-66.
The Seminoles nearly knocked off yet another top-15 team this season Friday night in Gainesville, Fla.
GAINESVILLE, FL -- Ian Miller's half-court shot hit the back of the rim as time expired and the Florida State men's basketball team fell to No. 15 Florida, 67-66, Friday night in Gainesville, Fla.
The Seminoles (5-2) now have a blowout victory over then-No. 10 VCU, an overtime loss to then-No. 14 Michigan and this near-victory over the Gators (6-1) in the young 2013-14 season thus showing a tremendous amount of improvement since last year.
The `Noles got more than half their points off the bench at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Miller poured in 13 points, Aaron Thomas had 12 and Michael Ojo finished with 10. Like Ojo, 7-footer Boris Bojanovsky had a strong game, scoring a season- and team-high 14 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the field. Bojanovsky also had two blocks.
Okaro White added nine points and two block of his own. The Seminoles had just 12 turnovers offensively.
For Florida, Case Prather finished with 19 points and Michael Frazier II had 17. The Gators show 38 percent compared to FSU's 42-percent clip. UF had 15 assists to Florida State's 10.
The `Noles trailed 31-28 at the half but battled back and tied the score at 66-66 with 28 seconds remaining on the clock. FSU forced a missed shot on UF's final possession but were called for a foul on the Gators' offensive rebound and Dorian Finney-Smith hit one of two free-throws before Miller's desperation heave nearly found the bottom of the net from half court.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 18 1 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 1
10 Okaro White f 23 2 6 1 1 4 4 9 2 1 3 4 1 0 2 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 20 2 9 0 1 0 0 4 2 1 3 1 0 0 1 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 24 6 6 0 0 2 2 14 1 1 2 5 0 2 2 1
32 Montay Brandon g 37 1 7 0 1 0 0 2 1 6 7 1 3 1 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 29 4 10 0 3 4 4 12 1 3 4 2 1 4 0 2
30 Ian Miller 33 3 7 1 4 6 6 13 0 1 1 2 5 3 0 1
50 Michael Ojo 14 3 3 0 0 4 7 10 2 4 6 4 0 1 1 0
Team 6 3 9
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 22 52 2 10 20 23 66 15 22 37 20 10 12 6 5
Opp 200 23 60 6 16 15 24 67 20 18 38 18 15 9 3 6
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Florida |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Seminoles Fall to Minnesota, 71-61.
Ian Miller scores 16 points off the bench.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Okaro White had 16 points and eight rebounds and Ian Miller added 16 points and seven assists off the bench, but the Seminoles lost to Minnesota 71-61 Tuesday night.
Florida State (5-3) shot 46.5 percent, but turned the ball over 17 times and missed 10 free throws in a foul-filled game.
There were 67 foul shots taken and 52 fouls called.
The Gophers led 52-42 midway through the second half, overcoming woeful shooting with some tough defense and a couple of three-point plays from DeAndre Mathieu and Oto Osenieks to build the cushion. The Seminoles didn't attempt a shot for the first 3:07 of the second half as the turnovers kept coming.
But Florida State hung around, hitting the shots they did take and clamping down on defense themselves to cut it to 57-53 on a lob from Miller to White with under six minutes to go.
The Seminoles have high hopes this season, which appeared to be validated with a convincing victory over VCU and narrow losses to Michigan and Florida late last month. They're physical, fast in the open court and have a pair of post players in Bojanovsky and Michael Oto who are over 7 feet tall.
The Gophers were giving up size and strength to the Seminoles at virtually every position, so their best chance to hang in there came from behind the 3-point arc. They came out firing, hitting five of their first seven from long range. The Hollinses each hit one during a 12-0 run that gave Minnesota a 23-12 lead midway through the first half.
But Florida State's defense, undeterred by a closely called game, started to flex its muscle as the half wore on. They squeezed the Gophers and baited them into taking contested jumpers and Miller jumpstarted the team off the bench to help them creep back in it.
The lightning quick senior scored on two coast-to-coast drives and the Seminoles chipped away at the foul line to cut the deficit to six points at halftime.
The Golden Gophers (7-2) grabbed 13 offensive rebounds against the bigger Seminoles to help them bounce back from a disappointing showing at the Maui Invitational. The Gophers only turned the ball over six times and hit seven 3-pointers to overcome 34 percent shooting.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 18 0 5 0 4 2 2 2 0 2 2 3 1 1 0 0
10 Okaro White f 34 5 10 2 3 4 6 16 1 7 8 5 3 3 1 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 22 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 4 2 0 2 1 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 21 5 5 0 0 1 2 11 1 3 4 3 0 2 2 0
32 Montay Brandon g 26 0 4 0 0 3 6 3 4 2 6 4 0 0 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 24 1 4 0 0 3 4 5 1 2 3 5 3 3 2 0
30 Ian Miller 36 7 12 0 3 2 3 16 1 2 3 3 7 4 1 1
40 Brandon Allen 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 17 1 2 0 0 4 6 6 0 5 5 2 0 2 2 1
Team 1 1
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 20 43 2 10 19 29 61 10 26 36 27 14 17 9 2
Opp 200 18 53 7 16 28 38 71 13 19 32 25 12 6 5 8
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Minnesota |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Cruise.
FSU men's basketball team dispatches Jacksonville State, 77-53.
By Bob Thomas, Associate SID
TALLAHASSEE, FL - A reprieve in the midst of a rigorous schedule came at just the right time for the Florida State basketball team.
The Seminoles shot 54.5 percent from the floor, scored 28 points in the paint and turned 16 Jacksonville State turnovers into 27 points, cruising to a 77-53 victory, Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center. It was a much-needed win for the `Noles (6-3), who had dropped three of their last four games.
Those losses, however, came to Michigan, Florida and Minnesota.
Okaro White and Boris Bojanovsky led four Seminole double-figure scorers with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Montay Brandon added 14 points and Aaron Thomas chipped in 12.
"I think you could probably sum it up by saying, `too much'," Jacksonville State coach James Green said, in sizing up the mismatch. "They shoot 55 percent from the field and when you play a team on their home court that is bigger, stronger and more talented ... you're going to have yourself a 20-point ballgame."
The Gamecocks (3-7) were largely unsuccessful in their attempt to control the tempo after the Seminoles used a 20-4 first half run to open up a 19-point lead, then sealed the win spurts of 10 and 11 unanswered points in the second half.
There was little doubt about the outcome after the Seminoles carried a 37-20 lead into the locker room at the half.
White (14 points) and Bojanovsky (10) fueled the Seminoles, who seized control of the game with a 20-4 run over an eight-minute stretch in the opening half. FSU led 10-7 before consecutive 3-pointers by Brandon and Jarquez Smith triggered a 10-0 run. The 7-foot-3 Bojanovsky scored FSU's next six points with two free throws, a 15-foot jumper and a layup off a Devin Bookert feed to push the Seminoles' lead to 22-9.
White took over from there with consecutive dunks - on an offensive rebound and a pass from Ian Miller - before Brandon contributed a pair free throws. White's second offensive rebound basket in an 8-0 run pushed the Seminoles' lead to 30-11 - their largest of the opening half.
It was White's most productive performance - and perhaps his most assertive offensive effort - since he scored 18 against Michigan in Puerto Rico.
"I definitely feel like that, on nights that we come out slow, or just to get everybody else going," said the senior forward, who converted seven of nine shots. "I'm just trying to look for whatever the defenders are giving me. I saw they were giving me the 3-point shot, so I was letting them fly."
FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, who remains concerned about his team's rebounding and tendency to turn the ball over, still likes the progress the `Noles are showing.
"I like the direction we're moving in," he said. "Anytime you shoot 55 percent you're happy with that. ... I think we had a better balance of an inside-outside attack."
The continued development of Bojanovsky, who registered his third consecutive double-figure scoring performance - and fellow sophomore frontcourt mate Michael Ojo - also drew praise from the veteran coach.
"Boris is a very unselfish player and has a high basketball IQ," Hamilton said. "He's growing. He's finishing his plays. I thought his defense was pretty good. What you see now is him being a little more instinctive that he has been."
The Slovak Republic big man agreed.
"I'm more comfortable taking shots and playing within the system," Bojanovsky said. "My teammates are finding me open. I'm much more confident and comfortable than I was before. ... I'm getting more opportunities and I'm trying to take advantage of it."
"We've been telling him to be aggressive and I think it's finally hitting him," White said Bojanovsky. "He's probably the most skilled guy out there on the floor so he needs to be aggressive; we need him to be aggressive."
Ojo scored just three points, but grabbed seven rebounds in 17 minutes.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 29 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 3 3 4 1 0 0
10 Okaro White f 27 7 9 3 5 0 0 17 2 2 4 1 0 1 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 2
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 21 5 5 0 0 5 5 15 0 2 2 1 1 2 4 0
32 Montay Brandon g 26 4 7 2 2 4 5 14 2 1 3 0 3 0 0 2
5 Jarquez Smith 15 1 2 1 2 4 4 7 0 3 3 3 0 1 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 24 3 7 0 1 6 7 12 0 5 5 2 1 3 0 2
30 Ian Miller 24 3 8 1 5 2 4 9 0 1 1 1 3 4 0 2
35 Joell Hopkins 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 17 1 1 0 0 1 2 3 2 5 7 2 0 1 2 0
Team 1 1 2
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 24 44 7 18 22 27 77 8 22 30 15 13 15 7 8
Opp 200 20 52 4 13 9 14 53 13 14 27 24 10 16 2 8
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville State | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
FSU Shuts Down Charlotte, 106-62.
The Florida State men's basketball team explodes Tuesday night for its most points in a single game in eight years.
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- The Florida State men's basketball team hadn't played a game in nine days but the Seminoles sure didn't show any signs of rust Tuesday night against Charlotte.
After a successful week of finals on FSU's campus, the `Noles (7-3) were untested in a 106-62 victory over the 49ers (7-3) at the Donald L. Tucker Center. It was the first time that FSU had eclipsed the 100-points plateau in a single game since the program hung 108 on Campbell in 2005.
Charlotte, a squad that won the Puerto Rico Tip-Off last month with a triumph over then-No. 13 Michigan, had no answer for the Seminoles' top-to-bottom total team effort -- especially Aaron Thomas' performance.
FSU's sophomore swing man registered a career-best 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Thomas also was effective on the defensive end, grabbing four of his seven total rebounds and notching a steal and a block. He also had two assists.
For an FSU team tha shot 54 percent from the field and nearly 41 percent from long range, Thomas wasn't the only one to reach double figures on the stat sheet.
Senior guard Ian Miller was 6-of-11 from the field for 18 points while Robert Gilchrist and Boris Bojanovsky had 11 points each. Okaro White slid into the role of small forward and contributed a double-double wi0th 14 points and 11 rebounds. Montay Brandon also had 14 points.
Florida State's bench scored 52 points while the entire 49ers team scored 62. Shawn Lester scored 16 of those points for Charlotte and Pierria Henry added 13 before being ejected in the second half.
The Seminoles held Charlotte to 35 percent and out rebounded the visitors 45-33. The 49ers also had 19 turnovers that led to 30 FSU points. Florida State had just nine giveaways and had 22 assists compared to just nine by Charlotte.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 24 1 5 0 3 2 2 4 0 3 3 4 8 1 0 3
10 Okaro White f 27 5 13 1 4 3 3 14 3 8 11 1 3 0 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 19 4 7 0 1 3 4 11 4 1 5 2 1 1 1 2
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 22 5 6 0 0 1 1 11 3 3 6 1 1 0 2 2
32 Montay Brandon g 25 5 7 2 3 2 3 14 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 19 1 3 0 1 1 2 3 0 3 3 2 1 1 1 0
25 Aaron Thomas 22 10 14 3 5 3 4 26 3 4 7 0 2 1 1 1
30 Ian Miller 18 6 11 2 4 4 4 18 0 2 2 3 2 3 0 0
35 Joell Hopkins 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 4 1 2 1 1 0 0 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 16 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 2 0 3 1
Team 2 2 4 1
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 39 72 9 22 19 25 106 15 30 45 19 22 9 8 10
Opp 200 21 60 6 18 14 22 62 14 19 33 21 9 19 3 2
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNC-Charlotte | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Resume Builder: FSU Beats No. 20/22 UMass, 60-55.
The Florida State men's basketball team earns a big December victory against previously undefeated Massachusetts Saturday in the Metro PCS Orange Bowl Classic.
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Confronted with twin-tower defenders, Massachusetts needed to shoot well from the perimeter Saturday, and couldn't do it.
The 22nd-ranked Minutemen went 1 for 15 from 3-point range and were beaten for the first time this season when Florida State scored the game's final six points to win 60-55 in the Orange Bowl Classic.
Florida State had a season-high 12 blocks. Boris Bojanovsky, a 7-foot-3 sophomore, had a career-high seven blocks in 16 minutes. Michael Ojo, a 7-1 sophomore, added two blocks, seven points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes.
"To beat them, you're going to have to make some 3s," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. "I'm not sure I've seen a team shoot 1 for 15 from 3 and win. I'm not sure that's possible."
Florida State (8-3) beat a ranked team for the second time this season. UMass (10-1) had been off to its best start since 1995.
"We know how it feels to lose a game now," said UMass' Cady Lalanne, a junior who scored 10 points and tied a career high with 15 rebounds. "It's motivation."
Aaron Thomas scored 18 points for Florida State and was voted the game's most valuable player. His two free throws with 2 seconds left sealed the victory.
"It was one of those grind-out games that you hope you pull out at the end," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We just never seemed to get into a rhythm, but at the end we did a better job of executing and made enough plays."
Bojanovsky had three blocks down the stretch.
"I tried to go after every shot," he said. "I'm glad I helped my team to win."
Chaz Williams' driving layup put the Minutemen up 55-54 with 1:51 to go, but they failed to score on their final four possessions while committing two turnovers, including one when Lalanne was called for hanging on the rim on a dunk.
Two free throws by Ian Miller with 1:06 left gave the Seminoles the lead for good.
The Minutemen shot a season-low 33 percent, and their starters were 0 for 12 from 3-point range. Their point total was a season low, 29 below their average.
"We missed layups, open shots and free throws," Kellogg said. "I remember 14 or 16 layups we missed. That's attributable to Florida State's size."
Derrick Gordon had 12 points for UMass, and Williams scored 10.
Florida State had season lows in points and shooting, hitting just 37 percent. The Seminoles, who went 1 for 7 from 3-point range, were coming off their highest scoring game since 2005, scoring 106 points in a win over Charlotte.
Players on both teams said the rims were unforgiving.
"In warmups we were complaining about the rims," Thomas said. "We weren't happy with them. They weren't breakaways. We weren't able to get a shooter's roll."
Neither team led by more than five points, and the lead changed hands 13 times as both teams struggled offensively from the start. The Seminoles missed 16 of their first 19 shots, while UMass missed its first eight 3-point tries.
"We both defended each other," Hamilton said. "They did a lot of things that threw us out of rhythm. They're the most athletic team we've faced all year."
Montay Brandon had eight points and nine rebounds for Florida State.
UMass scored nine consecutive points to lead 11-6. The Seminoles were up 30-28 at halftime, then trailed for most of the second half before Miller put them ahead to stay.
"We needed this victory going into the Christmas break," Hamilton said. "Santa Claus came early."
Florida State wore turquoise uniforms to raise awareness for Native American and Aboriginal youth.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 15 1 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 4 4 2 0 1 1 0
10 Okaro White f 31 5 10 0 0 0 0 10 2 3 5 2 2 1 0 2
14 Robert Gilchrist f 23 2 10 1 2 0 1 5 2 0 2 1 0 1 1 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 16 2 5 0 0 0 0 4 2 3 5 3 0 2 7 1
32 Montay Brandon g 28 4 9 0 1 0 0 8 3 6 9 3 2 2 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 9 1 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 32 5 11 0 0 8 8 18 1 3 4 2 2 2 1 1
30 Ian Miller 27 1 10 0 3 2 2 4 0 5 5 2 4 4 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 19 3 4 0 0 1 5 7 4 4 8 3 1 4 2 0
Team 3 2 5
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 24 65 1 7 11 18 60 17 30 47 19 11 17 12 4
Opp 200 20 60 1 15 14 24 55 15 28 43 20 8 17 6 8
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Massachusetts |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
On To ACC Play!
'Noles close non-conference slate with win over Charleston Southern.
By Bob Thomas
TALLAHASSEE, FL - On a night when the Florida State men's basketball team could not find the mark shooting from the perimeter, the Seminoles finished off Charleston Southern with a dominating performance in the paint.
Sophomore swingman Aaron Thomas scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half on an array of drives and dunks, leading the Seminoles to a 67-59 victory over the Buccaneers at the Donald L. Tucker Center. With its fourth consecutive victory, Florida State (9-3) closed its non-conference schedule on a high note heading into the Jan. 4 Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Virginia.
"A lot of times at this stage of the season when you're playing against a team that's not from a BCS conference, your players think you should win by a larger margin," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I'm very happy we won this basketball game. ... This was a very good team for us to play because we're going to play some teams in the ACC who shoot the ball very well from the perimeter."
The Seminoles countered the Buccaneers' 10 3-pointers with a dominating 44-10 scoring advantage in the paint.
Sophomore point guard Devin Bookert delivered a career-high nine assists to go along with a game-high seven rebounds, offsetting his 1-of-6 shooting performance.
"He got big rebounds and big assists when we needed to have them," Hamilton said of Bookert.
"We have a lot of people on the team that are really explosive scorers," Booker said. "They make it really easy to just put the ball in a spot and they can do the rest."
Florida State led by as many as 14 in the second half, but saw its double-digit lead reduced to five - 61-56 - with 1:20 to play after Charleston Southern's Saah Nimley made the second of two free throws.
The `Noles turned the ball over six times in the final five minutes, but restored order when 7-foot-3 center Boris Bojanovsky slammed home a baseline lob from Montay Brandon. FSU's eight dunk of the night, followed by a pair of Bookert free throws after a CSU turnover, gave the `Noles a 65-56 lead with 45 seconds to go.
Ian Miller added 15 points for the Seminoles.
Playing for the first time in nine days, the Seminoles needed all of the easy baskets they could muster as they were just 4 of 18 from behind the 3-point arc. By contrast, the Buccaneers (5-7) scored 30 of their 59 points from beyond the arc.
Ultimately, the Seminoles' inside strength and second half defense - CSU shot just 33 percent from the floor after the break and 36 percent for the game - proved to be too much. FSU turned 17 Bucs' turnovers into 23 points.
The Seminoles built a 30-22 halftime lead by pounding the ball inside against the under-sized Buccaneers to the tune of a 20-4 points in the paint advantage. Despite the whopping disparity, FSU had trouble shaking the pesky visitors, who came into the game averaging 90 points a contest.
That all changed when sophomore big man Michael Ojo dove head-long into a pile of players and came up with a loose ball at the end of an extended scrum At the time of the change of possession, the Seminoles were clinging to an 18-17 lead with just under six minutes to play in the half.
Ojo's hustle play sparked FSU's 12-5 closing run to the half, fueled by Miller, who dropped in a pair of 3-pointers on his way to 11 first-half points.
"I just try to do the little things to help your team out and have to try to get everybody going, especially on the defensive end," said Ojo, who contributed four points and six rebounds. "It's fun for me and it's something that I can do with my ability to help my team get going."
"During that period Ojo got his hands on just about every ball that was loose in there," Hamilton said. "He was giving us so much energy that it really helped lift the spirits of everybody else. He really gave us that inside presence that allowed us to go on that little spurt."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 32 1 6 0 5 2 2 4 0 7 7 4 9 3 0 2
10 Okaro White f 26 1 5 0 1 0 0 2 1 3 4 5 0 1 1 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 14 2 5 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 22 3 5 0 0 0 0 6 2 1 3 1 0 1 1 1
32 Montay Brandon g 28 3 5 0 1 3 6 9 0 6 6 2 2 1 1 3
5 Jarquez Smith 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 28 8 12 2 4 1 3 19 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1
30 Ian Miller 29 4 11 2 7 5 7 15 0 2 2 2 2 5 0 3
50 Michael Ojo 16 2 5 0 0 0 0 4 3 3 6 0 0 0 0 0
Team 2 1 3
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 26 56 4 18 11 18 67 11 25 36 16 14 14 4 10
Opp 200 18 50 10 29 13 18 59 8 22 30 17 11 17 4 5
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Southern | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Seminoles Drop to Virginia 62-50 in ACC opener.
Florida State fell short to the Cavaliers on Saturday night.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Justin Anderson scored 16 points and Akil Mitchell added 11 points along with 13 rebounds Saturday to lead Virginia to a 62-50 win at Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both schools.
Virginia (10-4) jumped to an early 6-0 lead and never trailed as it bounced back from an embarrassing 87-52 loss Monday night at Tennessee. The Cavaliers led by as many as 15 in the opening half and 22 in the second half.
Capitalizing on a 20-2 scoring advantage off Florida State first half turnovers, Virginia built an early 28-13 lead on its way to a 30-17 cushion at the midway break despite losing the services of scoring leader Joe Harris early in the game.
Anderson and freshman London Perrantes took up the scoring slack for the Cavaliers with 10 points apiece in the opening half. Perrantes finished with 14 points and teammate Malcolm Brogdon added 11.
Harris played less than three minutes without taking a shot before being injured during a scramble for a loose ball. He remained dressed and on the Cavalier bench for the remainder of the game. Virginia officials wouldn't say what injury Harris suffered, although it appeared he was checked for a possible concussion.
Florida State (9-4) went the opening five minutes without a score until Okaro White's 3-point shot from the side. White was Florida State's lone double-digit scorer with 15 points.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 31 3 12 1 3 0 0 7 1 2 3 1 2 2 0 0
10 Okaro White f 27 4 9 2 3 5 8 15 2 5 7 4 1 2 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 12 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 1
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 17 0 1 0 0 4 6 4 1 2 3 5 0 0 3 0
32 Montay Brandon g 22 2 10 0 1 2 3 6 2 1 3 3 0 2 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 14 1 2 0 1 1 1 3 0 2 2 4 0 0 3 0
25 Aaron Thomas 34 4 8 0 2 1 3 9 1 5 6 4 1 1 0 1
30 Ian Miller 28 2 8 1 4 1 1 6 1 1 2 5 4 7 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 2 0 2 2 0
Team 1 4 5
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 16 52 4 14 14 22 50 12 26 38 28 8 16 8 2
Opp 200 19 58 6 16 18 33 62 17 24 41 21 9 6 3 3
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
FSU's Defense Turns Back Tigers in 56-41 Triumph.
The Florida State men's basketball team held Clemson to a season low for points Thursday night on the road.
CLEMSON, SC -- Clemson came into Thursday's Atlantic Coast Conference showdown against Florida State with the nation's best defense in points allowed but it was the Seminoles that set the tone on that end of the floor in a 56-41 road victory.
FSU (10-4, 1-1 ACC) forced the Tigers (10-4, 1-1) to shoot 30 percent from the field and allowed just one double-digits scorer (K.J. McDaniels and his 14 points) as Clemson was held to a season low for points. The `Noles also forced 18 turnovers while giving the basketball away just 11 times of their own.
Senior guard Ian Miller came off the bench to score 15 points for the Seminoles, shooting 6-of-12 from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Miller also added four rebounds and five assists.
Sophomore guards Aaron Thomas and Devon Bookert scored 10 points apiece while rookie Jarquez Smith added eight points. Boris Bojanovsky contributed a team-best three blocks on the defensive end of the floor and Montay Brandon had five rebounds.
The Seminoles had 10 steals and shot 47.3-percent from the field.
It looked like the Clemson defense would be too much as FSU didn't score in the game's first four minutes. But a 13-2 run by the `Noles counteracted that slow start and the visitors eventually built a 16-point advantage in the second half and never led by less than nine points the rest of the night.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 20 5 7 0 1 0 0 10 0 2 2 2 0 1 0 1
10 Okaro White f 30 1 6 0 4 0 0 2 2 2 4 0 1 1 1 2
14 Robert Gilchrist f 18 2 5 0 0 0 1 4 5 2 7 2 0 1 0 1
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 28 2 3 0 0 0 1 4 2 2 4 2 0 1 3 1
32 Montay Brandon g 27 1 6 0 0 1 2 3 4 1 5 0 0 3 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 12 4 5 0 1 0 0 8 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 27 5 11 0 1 0 0 10 1 2 3 2 2 1 0 3
30 Ian Miller 28 6 12 1 4 2 3 15 0 4 4 2 5 2 0 1
50 Michael Ojo 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0
Team 2 2
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 26 55 1 11 3 7 56 14 19 33 12 9 11 5 10
Opp 200 15 50 5 19 6 6 41 15 19 34 14 9 18 4 6
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Clemson |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Seminoles Sizzle Against Terps.
FSU men drain ACC-high 16 3-pointers in 85-61 rout.
By Bob Thomas, Seminoles.com
TALLAHASSEE, FL - In a battle akin to the ongoing meteorological debate - Global Warming vs. Polar Vortex - the Florida State men's basketball team was hot enough from beyond arc to melt the Arctic ice cap, routing Maryland, 85-61.
The Seminoles converted 16 of 24 3-point attempts, the most by any Atlantic Coast Conference team this season and the most by any Florida State team in 23 years against a conference opponent. Ironically, the sizzling shooting display came on the heels of a four-game stretch where the `Noles converted just 10 of 50 attempts from beyond the arc.
"Florida State was terrific," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. "They made shots we didn't expect them to make, or as many. Sixteen of 24 is tremendous. We didn't get anything going offensively, but you have to give them credit. They were tremendous defensively."
FSU (11-4, 2-1 ACC) limited Maryland to 33 percent shooting, but its defensive prowess was somewhat lost in the barrage of 3-balls, particularly in the first half. The Seminoles drained 10 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, including five on consecutive possessions as they extended a precarious 22-16 lead to a 37-19 cushion with 3:50 remaining.
Ian Miller, who led the Seminoles with 20 points, accounted for five first half 3-pointers - six on the night - including two in the middle of the decisive stretch first half stretch.
"It was just a good day for ball movement and getting wide-open shots; finding people instead of taking contested shots, which led to a big win," said Miller, who converted 7 of 12 shots, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range. "We hit easy shots and that's the name of the game, getting easy shots."
In its final ACC appearance at the Donald L. Tucker Center, Maryland did not manage a field goal over the final 8:30 of the half. The Seminoles built a 42-22 lead with a 25-7 closing run that was never threatened.
Maryland (10-7, 2-2) never did get out of its deep freeze, suffering its worst loss in 43 ACC dates with Florida State. The Seminoles previous largest series win was 22 points - 100-78 - on Feb. 10, 1996, also in Tallahassee.
It was a far cry from the Seminoles' disjointed performance against Virginia in their ACC home-opener just eight days earlier, when they suffered a 62-50 setback.
"Against Virginia, we weren't able to get the ball moving," said FSU sophomore guard Aaron Thomas, who had 14 points against Maryland. "The ball was sticking a lot. That game really woke us up. We have more assists to turnovers now and that's leading to easy buckets."
"Making the extra pass, moving the ball and executing on the offensive end gave us some high percentage shots," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Tonight they were falling for us. Obviously we'd love to shoot that way every night, but that's probably not going to happen. ... If we can move the ball and get high percentage shots, we can pretty much live with outcome from there."
Turgeon confessed that Maryland's game plan was to slow FSU's transition and penetration game, adding that most every team in the ACC would prefer to allow the `Noles to try and win from the perimeter.
When asked if the Terps were daring the Seminoles to put up jumpers, Turgeon said: "I wouldn't say dare. I would say make jump shots over an extended hand. They made a lot of shots. You get (ticked) because they haven't made 3's all year. ... You get frustrated and then you come down and don't play well at the other end of the floor."
Florida State came into the game with 58 made 3-pointers on the season; an average of 4.2 per game. Okaro White (15 points) drained his teams' fifth 3-pointer of the night with 6:12 remaining in the first half - the first of five consecutive shots to go down beyond the arc.
"We shoot better in practice all the time," Hamilton said. "We're starting to understand that we have to play to each other and create for each other. Sometimes that's an elusive mindset to get into. Going back and watching the Virginia film, it was obvious that we were very impatient."
Hamilton, however, refused to get too caught up in his teams' first half shooting performance.
"I knew we were shooting the ball well, but I know the game can change very quickly," he said. "You can't let yourself get too high. ... You look around at what's been going on in the league and the games have been very interesting."
Maryland's night did not get much better after managing a season-low 22 points in the first half. The Terrapins never got closer than 16 after the break before 3-pointers by Thomas and Devon Bookert (12 points) pushed the lead back to 20. Montay Brandon scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half as the Seminoles led by as many as 31.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 27 3 7 3 4 3 4 12 0 2 2 3 6 3 0 2
10 Okaro White f 34 5 10 2 4 3 4 15 1 7 8 1 1 1 2 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 20 0 3 0 0 1 4 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 3 0
32 Montay Brandon g 29 4 8 1 2 4 6 13 4 4 8 2 2 3 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 26 5 9 3 5 1 2 14 0 4 4 4 2 4 0 1
30 Ian Miller 27 7 12 6 8 0 0 20 0 5 5 4 5 1 0 0
35 Joell Hopkins 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 16 2 3 0 0 3 3 7 2 0 2 3 1 0 1 0
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 27 54 16 24 15 23 85 8 26 34 21 17 14 7 4
Opp 200 17 51 3 18 24 34 61 12 22 34 25 9 15 1 10
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Florida State Pulls Away From Miami, 63-53.
Seminoles win their third game in a row.
CORAL GABLES, FL - Florida State scored 13 consecutive points over the final 4 minutes Wednesday to pull away from the Miami Hurricanes 63-53.
Miami missed six shots in a row during the decisive stretch and went 3 1/2 minutes without a point. The Seminoles made their final six shots, and also went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
Florida State (12-4, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its third game in a row. Miami (9-7, 1-3 ACC) has already matched its loss total in the conference for all of last season, when it won the title.
The 14th and final lead change came when Okaro White's two free throws put Florida State ahead to stay, 52-51. Garrius Adams then blew a dunk for the Hurricanes, and that was their last chance to regain the lead.
Ian Miller's 3-pointer made it 57-51, and he added two free throws in the final minute to help seal the win.
In five of the Hurricanes' seven losses, they've led late in the second half.
Aaron Thomas led the Seminoles with 12 points. Devon Bookert and Boris Bojanovsky added 11 each.
Bookert made three 3-pointers for the Seminoles, who went 7 for 15 from beyond the arc after sinking 16 3-pointers in Sunday's win over Maryland.
Florida State went 14 for 17 from the free-throw line, while Miami went only 2 for 6. Miami missed 19 of 28 3-point tries.
There were no fast-break points, reflecting the methodical pace with both teams playing stingy zones that forced a lot of long possessions and outside shots.
Miami senior Donnavan Kirk shot 9 for 12 and scored a career-high 21 points. Rion Brown also had 21, but the rest of the team shot 1 for 15 from 3-point range.
The Hurricanes missed 13 of their first 17 shots, and the Seminoles led for most of the opening half, building an advantage of 18-11. James Kelly's basket put Miami ahead for the first time, 21-20.
Kirk beat the final buzzer with a basket for a 28-24 lead. Brown's back-to-back 3-pointers gave the Hurricanes their largest lead at 43-38 midway in the second half.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 26 4 7 3 4 0 0 11 1 1 2 3 2 1 0 0
10 Okaro White f 33 3 8 0 2 3 4 9 1 5 6 2 1 0 1 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 15 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 28 4 7 0 0 3 4 11 2 2 4 1 2 0 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 26 2 4 0 1 2 3 6 3 3 6 2 1 2 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 9 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 3 0 0 1 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 28 3 7 2 4 4 4 12 2 2 4 1 0 2 1 0
30 Ian Miller 31 3 9 2 4 2 2 10 2 4 6 1 4 2 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 1 3 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 21 46 7 15 14 17 63 13 24 37 10 10 9 2 1
Opp 200 21 59 9 28 2 6 53 15 14 29 17 12 4 4 5
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Miami |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Clipped by Cavs, 78-66.
The FSU men's basketball team drops second game of its ACC schedule Saturday at Virginia.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- The Florida State men's basketball team's three-game conference winning streak came to an end Saturday with a 78-66 loss at Virginia.
The Seminoles are now 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 12-5 overall after the setback at John Paul Jones Arena. Both of the `Noles' two league losses this year are to the Cavaliers (13-5, 4-1 ACC).
Similar to the first meeting between the two programs two weeks ago, FSU struggled protecting the basketball. The Seminoles committed 11 first-half turnovers that led to a 45-26 disadvantage at the break and finished the game with 18 giveaways -- a statistic that counteracted the fact the 'Noles outscored the Cavs in the second half.
Florida State entered the game with statistically the ACC's second-best defensive unit in opponent shooting percentage. But compared to the 36.3 percent shooting they usually hold opponents to, Virginia finished the game with a 49-percent shooting clip. The Cavaliers were also 63.6 percent from long range.
The `Noles actually shot well from the field, hitting at 45.7-percent mark. Okaro White was responsible for five of the team's makes on six shots and the senior finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
Aaron Thomas continued his strong play off the bench, posting 15 points of his own to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Devon Bookert was the third FSU player in double figures with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Ian Miller scored nine points but was 3-of-12 from the field.
Florida State out-rebounded Virginia, 31-28, and had nine blocks compared to the host's three. But UVa spread the ball around more effectively and registered 18 assists to the Seminoles' 11. Joe Harris (18), Malcolm Brogdon (16), Mike Tobey (13) and Justin Anderson (10) paced the Cavaliers' scoring.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 31 4 9 3 4 1 2 12 1 4 5 1 2 1 0 1
10 Okaro White f 32 5 6 0 0 5 6 15 2 5 7 5 0 3 3 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 18 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 2 3 0 2 3 1
32 Montay Brandon g 26 2 5 0 1 1 2 5 1 2 3 3 2 2 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 10 2 2 1 1 0 0 5 0 3 3 0 0 0 1 0
25 Aaron Thomas 34 3 7 1 2 8 8 15 0 5 5 2 4 2 0 1
30 Ian Miller 26 3 12 1 8 2 2 9 1 0 1 4 3 4 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 10 1 2 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 0
Team 2 2 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 21 46 6 16 18 22 66 8 23 31 21 11 18 9 3
Opp 200 27 55 7 11 17 23 78 9 19 28 21 18 9 5 8
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Virginia |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Magical Miller Time!
Senior Ian Miller delivers game-winner to repel Irish, 76-74.
By Bob Thomas, Seminoles.com
TALLAHASSEE, FL - They haven't lost their magic!
Ian Miller's floater from the lane with four seconds to play delivered Florida State a pivotal 76-74 Atlantic Coast Conference basketball victory over Notre Dame Tuesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
"It was just a hop-step and a floater," said Miller, who drove the lane off a Boris Bojanovsky ball screen just beyond the free throw line. "We work on that (play) every day. ...
"Aaron (Thomas) attracted a lot of attention because he was hot tonight, so that allowed me to really just focus on the ball screen. Coach says I'm his best offensive player. I just want coach to give it to me. When you've got coaches living and dying with you, the decision is really easy to make that play like I did tonight."
There's a reason for Miller's matter-of-fact explanation of the game-winning play, which moved the Seminoles (13-5, 4-2 ACC) into fourth-place, with one-third of the conference season in the rearview mirror. The senior guard's game-winning basket was the ninth by a Seminole - his second - in the waning seconds of a game over the past three seasons.
"Ian got into the lane, had an open look and we were very fortunate to have it go in," said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, who watched his team execute the final possession flawlessly.
"That was a big shot right at the end there, and they made big shots throughout the game to kind of never let us really feel like we could close the gap or win it," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. "They did a great job with the ball screen. ... He got a runner. He hit a tough shot. You've got to give a really good player a lot of credit for knocking down a big shot at a key time."
Notre Dame guard Eric Atkins, who led the Irish and all scorers with 24 points, nearly sucked the air out of crowd of 7,799 when his running 3-pointer was on line but caromed off the iron as the horn sounded.
It was a surprisingly dramatic finish to game that saw the Seminoles lead by as many as 13 early and carry a 41-33 lead into the locker room at the half. FSUte led 67-57 with 7:55 to play before Notre Dame mounted its final charge.
The Irish (10-8, 2-4) clawed their way back in the game behind Atkins and Garrick Sherman (21 points, 10 rebounds), who combined for 12 of Notre Dame's final 17 points. The Irish shot 55 percent from the floor in the second half against the normally stingy Seminole defense.
"Our offensive efficiency was good," Brey said. "We were small, with four guards around Sherm. ... Eric Atkins was fabulous tonight, setting the tone and kind of making us believe."
An Atkins 3-pointer with 3:20 play pulled the Irish within 72-70, and a turnover by Okaro White gave the first-time visitors to Tallahassee to tie or take the lead. White, however, came up with a loose ball on the floor, flipped it to Bojanovsky, who fed Aaron Thomas (20 points) for a run-out dunk.
"All I know is the ball popped out and I was fortunate to dive on the floor and get it - not get a jump ball - and throw it to Bobo," said White, who finished with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Thomas' dunk loomed large. Atkins' driving layup cut the lead back to 74-72 and when White misfired a 3-pointer from deep in the corner, Pat Connaughton's driving layup with 33.3 seconds remaining knotted the score.
"We had a tremendously hard time keeping Notre Dame out of the paint," said Hamilton. "We didn't have very many turnovers [10], but I thought we had turnovers at very critical times in the game and they made us pay. Offensively we executed very well. On the defensive end of the floor, we left something to be desired."
Hamilton burned a timeout to set up the final set, leading to Miller's game-winner. Then it was just a matter of the Seminoles and the home crowd holding their breath as Atkins unleashed his final shot.
"He was hot," Miller said of Atkins. "I grew up playing against him. When he let it go I (knew) he was capable of making something like that. We've got to work on that transition defense at the end, stay poised and not let anyone break on us it like that. I held it until it hit the backboard."
Miller finished with 11 points and Devon Bookert added 10 on a night when the `Noles needed every one of them.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 31 4 5 2 3 0 1 10 0 1 1 2 3 1 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 10 3 3 0 0 0 0 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 29 4 7 0 0 0 1 8 1 6 7 2 3 3 1 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 38 6 10 2 2 6 6 20 1 2 3 1 4 3 1 0
32 Montay Brandon g 27 3 6 1 2 0 0 7 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0
10 Okaro White 30 4 8 1 4 3 3 12 3 8 11 2 1 0 0 1
30 Ian Miller 24 4 8 2 5 1 1 11 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 1
50 Michael Ojo 8 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
Team 1 1 2
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 29 50 8 16 10 13 76 6 20 26 13 14 10 4 3
Opp 200 28 59 7 22 11 16 74 12 17 29 14 12 7 0 3
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
FSU Downed at Duke, 78-56.
'Noles get out-rebounded in a road loss to the Blue Devils Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C.
DURHAM, NC -- Plagued by an inability to consistently grab rebounds, the Florida State men's basketball team fell to No. 18 Duke, 78-56, Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Seminoles (13-6, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed by double figures through the entire second half but cut the deficit to 11 points with five minutes left in the game. But the Blue Devils (16-4, 5-2) responded with a 10-0 run that sealed the 900th win for Mike Krzyzewski as Duke's head coach.
The Seminoles actually shot 50 percent from the floor and held Duke to a 31-percent shooting clip but it was the struggles on the glass -- and major discrepancy at the free-throw line -- that proved too much to overcome.
While FSU grabbed 25 rebounds, the Blue Devils eclipsed that on the offensive end alone, finishing with 50 total rebounds (30 offensive and 20 defensive). The 'Noles were 10-of-18 from the free-throw line while Duke was 34-of-43. In total, Duke had 14 more field goal attempts than Florida State.
Okaro White led FSU with 14 points and eight rebounds. Devon Bookert poured in 12 points from his point guard position and fellow second-year guard Montay Brandon Added 11 points and four rebounds.
Ian Miler finished with nine points. The Seminoles' second-leading scorer, Aaron Thomas, was held to two points before fouling out in the second half.
Duke was led by Rodney Hood's 18 points while star freshman Jabari Parker registered a double-double wit 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Seminoles found themselves in a 43-25 halftime hole because of Duke's ability to score points off turnovers in the first half. FSU committed 12 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and the Blue Devils scored 18 off those giveaways to build the double-digit lead it wouldn't relinquish.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 35 3 7 1 1 5 6 12 0 2 2 1 2 4 1 1
10 Okaro White f 26 6 8 0 0 2 3 14 4 4 8 5 0 3 1 3
14 Robert Gilchrist f 18 2 3 0 0 0 2 4 0 1 1 4 1 1 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 18 2 3 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 2 4 0 0 1 1
32 Montay Brandon g 28 4 5 0 0 3 4 11 0 4 4 2 1 3 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 10 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 28 1 7 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 2 5 3 2 0 0
30 Ian Miller 24 4 9 1 3 0 1 9 0 1 1 4 0 3 0 1
35 Joell Hopkins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0
Team 2 1 3 1
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 22 44 2 6 10 18 56 7 17 24 29 7 17 4 6
Opp 200 18 59 8 20 34 43 78 27 20 47 21 9 12 1 10
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Duke |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
FSU Knocked Off by NC State, 74-70.
A close ACC ballgame ends with a late Wolfpack put-back Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C.
RALEIGH, NC — The Florida State men’s basketball team fell to NC State, 74-70, Wednesday night in a tightly contested contested at RBC Arena.
FSU (13-7, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) had trailed since the 4:27 mark of the first half but chipped away at the deficit before Ian Miller’s 3-pointer with 10:28 left in the game gave the visitors a 56-54 lead.
But the Wolfpack (14-7, 4-4) traded buckets the rest of the way and earned the win on a game-sealing put-back offensive rebound by Desmond Lee with nine second left.
Miller came off the bench to score 17 points for the ‘Noles, shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from long distance.
Okaro White led all FSU scorers with 20 points — three of which came on free throws in the final 2:37 — and seven rebounds. Aaron Thomas added 12 points, four rebounds and two assists. True freshman Jarquez White finished with seven points.
For the game, FSU shot 42.9 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from long distance but once again were doomed from the free-throw line. A game after struggling from the charity stripe in a loss at Duke, the Seminoles were 15-of-26 from the free-throw line in Raleigh, N.C.
T.J. Warren paced NC State with 30 points on 21 shots. He added seven rebounds and three steals before fouling out in the second half.
Lee added 11 points, including that final critical basket in the final seconds.
The Wolfpack shot nearly 46 percent from the field while grabbing 37 rebounds compared to FSU’s 40.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 28 1 5 1 2 0 1 3 0 5 5 3 5 2 0 2
10 Okaro White f 32 7 15 1 3 5 10 20 2 5 7 3 0 1 1 0
14 Robert Gilchrist f 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 24 1 2 0 0 3 7 5 3 4 7 3 1 0 2 0
32 Montay Brandon g 22 2 8 0 3 0 0 4 2 4 6 1 1 1 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 13 3 4 1 1 0 0 7 2 1 3 0 0 1 1 0
25 Aaron Thomas 28 3 8 1 4 5 6 12 1 3 4 1 2 2 0 0
30 Ian Miller 34 6 11 3 6 2 2 17 0 1 1 2 3 3 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
Team 5 5
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 24 56 7 19 15 26 70 16 24 40 15 12 11 5 3
Opp 200 31 68 4 15 8 11 74 14 23 37 19 17 9 3 7
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| North Carolina State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Come Up Short Against Clemson, 53-49.
The FSU men's basketball team loses leading scorer Ian Miller to injury in the first half and the Tigers come away with a close ACC victory Saturday at the Tucker Center.
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- The Florida State men's basketball team lost Ian Miller to a first-half injury and then lost to Clemson, 53-49, Saturday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
The Seminoles (13-8, 4-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) have now lost three games in a row. The setback was just the second loss of the year on their home floor.
In addition to being without Miller, the team's leading scorer who missed the entire second half with an injury, FSU couldn't come up with an answer for Tigers (14-6, 5-3) star K.J. McDaniels, who nearly matched half his team's point total by himself. McDaniels finished with 26 points on 50 percent shooting while also adding seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Clemson shot 43 percent from the floor as a team and grabbed 25 offensive rebounds that helped them overcome a paltry first half in which they went into the break down 20-17 to the `Noles.
"Clemson did a very good job of controlling the tempo," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I think we got lulled into playing the game at their pace."
For Florida State, the home team couldn't find its shooting touch. The Seminoles were held to just 34 percent shooting from the field and a 1-for-8 clip from behind the 3-point line, FSU actually outscored Clemson in the paint, 28-20, and had 13 points off 17 forced turnovers but ultimately it wasn't enough.
Aaron Thomas led the way with 13 points while Okaro White and Montay Brandon each added nine points. Devon Bookert finished with six points. Miller finisihed with two in his limited action.
"When Ian went out, it really challenged our rotation," Hamilton said, before adding that the early prognosis of Miller's injury was that he had a sprained ankle. "We thought that [Miller] would be able to continue to play but those ankles have the tendancy to get sore as time goes on and he wasn't able to come back in the second half."
The `Noles turned the ball over just 11 times.
Thomas' 3-pointer trimmed a double-digits Clemson advantage to 51-44 with 1:36 left on the game clock and then Bookert made it a 51-47 score on two free throws at the :18 mark. After a Jordan Roper dunk put Clemson back up six, Thomas got those points back on two free throws with eight seconds remaining in the game.
FSU forced a turnover five seconds later but Thomas' 3-pointer attempt rimmed out as time expired. "
"[Clemson] was patient tonight and got into the lane," Hamilton said. "... I thought they did a good job all night of getting [in the lane] and getting the ball kicked out."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 34 1 7 0 2 4 4 6 0 2 2 2 0 3 0 1
10 Okaro White f 31 4 8 0 1 1 3 9 0 3 3 4 1 3 0 1
14 Robert Gilchrist f 14 1 4 0 0 2 2 4 2 1 3 1 0 1 0 2
15 Boris Bojanovsky c 18 0 4 0 0 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 0 1 0 1
32 Montay Brandon g 36 4 9 0 1 1 3 9 1 2 3 2 0 1 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 18 1 2 0 1 0 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas 27 4 10 1 3 4 4 13 1 2 3 2 2 1 0 0
30 Ian Miller 7 0 2 0 0 2 2 2 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0
50 Michael Ojo 15 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 3 2 2 1 0 0
Team 1 3 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 16 47 1 8 16 20 49 8 21 29 16 5 11 0 6
Opp 200 19 44 7 19 8 12 53 8 25 33 19 10 17 5 4
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clemson | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Thomas Leaves No Doubt.
Sophomore scores 24 as 'Noles snap skid against Hokies, 70-50.
By Bob Thomas, Seminoles.com
TALLAHASSEE, FL - With its urgency heightened in the wake of a three-game losing streak, Florida State sophomore Aaron Thomas left no doubt that the Seminoles were not going to go quietly into the stretch run of the ACC basketball season.
Thomas scored a game-high 24 points, converting 6 of 8 3-point attempts, and senior Okaro White added 15 points and eight rebounds as the Seminoles rolled over hapless Virginia Tech, 70-50 Wednesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
The Seminoles (14-8, 5-5 ACC) were unfazed by the absence of scoring leader Ian Miller and coach Leonard Hamilton jostled his lineup, which served to shake his team from its funk.
"Our game plan was to put our most aggressive and most physical players on the floor at the start of the game to give us a little more energy," Hamilton said. "We didn't expect [Virginia Tech] to come out and play zone as much as they did - they decided they were going to play zone the entire game. Our players responded appropriately. I thought we had tremendous energy on the defensive end and had a much better balance on our offensive attack."
Stymied offensively by zone defenses in the past, the Seminoles moved the ball with precision, created open shots on the perimeter by feeding the post and got the free throw line with unusual regularity. FSU converted 21 of 25 shots from the line, where they outscored the Hokies (8-14, 1-9) by 18.
Most importantly, the Seminoles brought an energy to the game which had at times been missing. Following Saturday's unsightly home loss to Clemson, White issued his teammates with a challenge to do just that, then, led by example from the start against the Hokies.
"The guys have really responded," White said. "I felt like I had not been playing up to my energy MO in conference play, so after the last loss I really dug deep and looked myself in the mirror. I wanted to come out and be that energy guy that people thought I was when I was at Florida State."
Despite riding an eight-game losing streak, the Hokies stuck around throughout most of the first half. But the game changed in a blink of an eye with 2:31 remaining and the `Noles leading 23-18. Montay Brandon sank a 3-pointer and freshman Jarquez Smith was fouled away from the play. Smith swished both free throws and the five-point play doubled FSU's lead to 28-18.
"Huge," is how Virginia Tech coach James Johnson described the sequence. "You're talking about going into halftime in a tie game, up two or down two, not down 11."
The `Noles led 31-20 at the break and the Hokies never got closer than seven in the second half.
"That was a big play and we sustained our effort in the second half," White said.
Thomas made sure of it. The sharp-shooter found his stroke, connecting on three consecutive 3-pointers as the Seminoles pushed their lead to 48-33. He followed a pair of Devon Bookert free throws with his sixth 3-pointer of the night to push the lead to 53-35.
"I thought the guys fought and competed, but they were just a little over-matched," Johnson said of the Hokies. "Aaron Thomas took the game over tonight. We played the zone and I thought the zone was good for us until he took the game over. He was the difference in the game tonight." Hamilton, who gave Thomas his second start of the season, was hardly surprised.
"There's no doubt he's playing with a lot more confidence," said FSU's veteran coach. "You have to give credit to his teammates because I thought we moved the ball and got him those opportunities."
"Coach told me to be aggressive on both ends and I think I did a good job of that," said Thomas, who was two points shy of matching his career high for scoring. "After the second or third three my teammates told me to keep shooting. They did a good job of finding me."
The Seminoles received contributions from many corners. Making his first start of the season at point guard, Brandon controlled the offense and helped set the tone defensively. Bookert came off the bench and supplied seven points, eight rebounds and three assists (without a turnover). Boris Bojanovsky chipped in eight points off the bench, including two of FSU's seven blocked shots.
It didn't hurt that the `Noles limited the Hokies to 34 percent shooting from the floor.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 36 3 6 0 1 9 9 15 2 6 8 1 3 0 2 1
14 Robert Gilchrist f 13 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 34 7 14 6 8 4 4 24 0 3 3 3 3 1 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 32 2 7 1 2 0 0 5 1 2 3 1 2 1 0 1
50 Michael Ojo c 19 1 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
1 Devon Bookert 28 2 8 1 4 2 2 7 1 7 8 2 3 0 0 1
2 Marquez White 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 15 0 3 0 0 2 2 2 1 3 4 1 0 4 2 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 20 2 2 0 0 4 5 8 0 3 3 1 0 1 2 0
35 Joell Hopkins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Team 1 1 2
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 20 46 9 16 21 25 70 6 27 33 12 11 10 7 3
Opp 200 21 61 5 21 3 9 50 16 21 37 17 10 11 5 5
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Virginia Tech |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Florida State Falls at Maryland, 83-71.
Aaron Thomas leads the way for FSU with 17 points as four 'Noles score in double figures.
COLLEGE PARK, MD — The Florida State men’s basketball team dropped an 83-71 ballgame at Maryland Saturday afternoon.
The Seminoles (14-9, 5-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) now return home to host rival Miami Monday night. The ‘Noles-‘Canes showdown was originally scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. but has been moved to a 7 p.m. tip off at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Against the Terrapins (14-10, 6-5), Aaron Thomas scored 17 points while adding eight rebounds and three steals. FSU got some balanced offense with Devon Bookert (14), Okaro White (12) and Montay Brandon (11) all posting double-digits scoring marks and Michael Ojo contributing eight points.
But it wasn’t quite enough as Maryland’s Seth Allen erupted for 32 points in the final regular season meeting between the two programs as ACC foes. The Terrapins move to the Big Ten Conference next season.
Dez Wells added 15 points and Jake Layman had 12 points for Terps squad that shot nearly 52 percent from the field and was 42 percent from 3-point range.
FSU shot 38 percent from the floor and made 5-of-12 3-point attempts for a 42-percent shooting clip from long range of its own. The ‘Noles hit the glass hard in the loss, out-rebounding Maryland 38-31 and generating 20 total offensive boards.
Maryland had 13 turnovers to FSU’s 16.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 25 6 15 0 2 0 1 12 2 6 8 5 1 4 0 1
14 Robert Gilchrist f 19 0 2 0 0 3 4 3 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 38 6 18 3 5 2 2 17 4 4 8 3 1 0 0 3
32 Montay Brandon g 37 2 6 0 0 7 7 11 0 4 4 4 3 3 0 2
50 Michael Ojo c 13 4 6 0 0 0 0 8 3 0 3 2 0 1 1 0
1 Devon Bookert 35 5 10 2 4 2 2 14 1 2 3 4 3 4 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 13 1 2 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 2 1 0 2 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 19 0 4 0 0 4 6 4 4 1 5 0 0 1 1 0
35 Joell Hopkins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Team 3 1 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 24 63 5 12 18 22 71 20 18 38 20 9 16 4 7
Opp 200 27 52 10 24 19 23 83 8 23 31 20 12 13 5 9
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Maryland |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Can't Kick Down The Door.
FSU rallies from 13 down but falls to Miami, 77-73.
By Bob Thomas, Seminoles.com
TALLAHASSEE, FL - In a battle of two slumping teams playing their third game in a six-day stretch, Miami mustered just enough energy to hold off Florida State, 77-73 Monday night for an Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball victory at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Trailing by as many as 13 points just two minutes into the second half, the Seminoles (14-10, 5-7 ACC) twice cut the deficit to three, but could never get over the hump against the Hurricanes. Miami (12-12, 3-8) withstood the second half surge by converting 10 of 14 free throws over the final 1:05 to hand the Seminoles their fifth loss in six games.
"We've dug a deep hole for ourselves and we've got to muster up enough energy to finish our season with some wins going into the ACC Tournament," said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team has just six regular season games remaining.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga, whose team had dropped five of its last six league games, turned to his veterans to set the tone, inserting four seniors in the starting lineup. That decision elicited a response that left the Seminoles staring up out of a double-digit first half deficit for the fourth time in the last six games.
"From my point of view, that was the best game we've played at both ends of the floor," Larranaga said. "Everything we asked the players to do, they did. The end result was a total team effort."
And another frustrating setback for the Seminoles, who shot better from the floor, won the battle on the boards and points in the paint, but had nothing to show for their efforts.
"Miami came out and played hard from the jump ball," said Seminole sophomore guard Aaron Thomas. "I think we waited a couple minutes too late to pick it up. By that time they had already smacked us in the face. We were just not able to step our foot in the door and get all the way through it. There were spurts but it wasn't consistent."
It was a difficult night from the outset as Miami built a 13-5 lead by holding the Seminoles scoreless for a stretch of 5:32. FSU twice cut the lead to five before the Hurricanes countered with a 7-0 run for a 28-16 lead with 3:48 to play in the half.
Ian Miller, back in the lineup after a two-game absence with an ankle sprain, kept the Seminoles in the hunt with back-to-back 3 pointers and a late jumper as FSU finished on a 10-6 spurt and trailed 34-26 at the break. Miller had 11 of his 13 points in the first half.
After laboring offensively in the first half, the Seminoles got going in the second. Boris Bojanovksy punctuated a 16-6 run with a three-point play to pull FSU within 45-42 with 8:28 to play. Thomas, who finished with 16 points, countered a Davon Reed jumper with one of his own to make it 47-44, but the `Noles could get no closer.
The Seminoles also got scoring contributions from Devon Bookert (17 points) and Okaro White (14 points), but were unable to make headway on the deficit as seemingly every Miami the rest of the way ended with a basket or free throws as the shot clock wound down.
"[Miami] did a great job of making timely baskets," Hamilton said. "We were right there."
"One of things we do by slowing the game down is controlling the tempo," said UM's Garrius Adams; one of four Hurricanes in double figures with 12 points. "We try to share the ball as much as we can so we can have the shot clock [wind down] so we can get a good shot at the end of the shot clock. We did a good job of that."
Donnavan Kirk led the `Canes with 16 points. Center Tonye Jekiri had a career-high 15 points and Rion Brown added 14.
The Hurricanes opened up a nine-point lead during a five-minute stretch of fast-paced action before the Seminoles made a final charge. Bookert's 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining chipped the deficit to 65-61. Still trailing by four with 1:08 remaining, the Seminoles appeared to come up with a steal in a mad scramble for the ball on a Miami inbounds pass. The ball was knocked out of bounds and the officials used a review of the video to determine that it last touched Bookert.
Miami made three of its next four free throw attempts after two errant Montay Brandon shots and the `Canes sealed the victory at the line.
In the battle of tired teams looking to snap out of extended slides, Miami prevailed.
"We played nine guys and gave everybody some quality rest," Larranaga said. "We try to keep everybody fresh, but in the end you've got to gut it out. It's a grind and you've got to grind it out, particularly in February and March."
The Seminoles will have a few days to regroup before traveling to Wake Forest for Saturday's next encounter.
"We've been here before as a staff and as a team," Hamilton said. "This is part of the learning process. How do you handle adversity? This is when you learn and you grow from
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 30 7 14 2 7 1 2 17 2 3 5 1 5 0 0 0
10 Okaro White f 31 5 9 0 1 4 5 14 3 4 7 3 2 2 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 36 6 12 2 4 2 2 16 1 1 2 3 1 2 1 2
32 Montay Brandon g 25 0 4 0 2 2 4 2 0 2 2 5 1 1 0 1
50 Michael Ojo c 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 1 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 6 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 30 4 5 0 0 1 1 9 4 2 6 3 1 3 2 0
30 Ian Miller 34 5 10 3 6 0 0 13 0 3 3 4 0 2 0 0
Team 2 3 5
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 28 56 7 20 10 14 73 12 20 32 22 10 11 3 3
Opp 200 23 48 7 15 24 33 77 10 17 27 16 11 7 8 3
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Come From Behind to Drop Demon Deacons, 67-60.
The Florida State men's basketball team gets a much needed win at Wake Forest Saturday night.
WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- The Florida State men's basketball team didn't let an early double-digits deficit deter its quest for a big streak-busting victory on the road Saturday night.
Despite falling into an early 21-6 hole, FSU (15-10, 6-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) rallied for a 67-60 win against Wake Forerst at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The triumph halted a two-game losing streak for the `Noles, who will now return home to host North Carolina in primetime Monday night.
Tip off between FSU and UNC is slated for 7 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Ian Miller came off the bench to lead Florida State with 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting against the Demon Deacons (14-11, 4-8). He was a scalding 3-of-7 from 3-point range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line while adding three rebounds.
Aaron Thomas finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds for a well-time double-double. The talented sophomore also posted three assists and four steals. Montay Brandon scored eight points, Okaro White had six points and Boris Bojanovsky had a strong game with five points, eight rebounds and six of the team's seven blocks.
For Wake Forest, Travis McKie and Tyler Cavanaugh scored 14 points apiece. The Demon Deacons were held to 37.7-percent shooting while FSU was 45.1-percent from the field. FSU was relentless on the glass, too, out-rebounding its hosts 41-27.
The Demon Deacons built that 21-6 advantage with nine minutes remaining in the first half but a technical foul helped spark a Florida State run that resulted in a 29-23 Wake Forest lead at the break.
Devon Bookert's turnaround jumper with 11:49 left in the second half then gave FSU a 39-37 lead and after trading scores the rest of the game, an 8-0 `Noles run that, coupled with some late Miller free throws, helped preserve the victory.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 17 1 5 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
10 Okaro White f 22 2 5 0 1 2 4 6 2 2 4 5 0 2 0 1
25 Aaron Thomas g 39 7 17 0 4 5 8 19 4 10 14 0 3 3 0 4
32 Montay Brandon g 35 2 5 0 0 4 6 8 2 1 3 2 1 1 0 1
50 Michael Ojo c 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 14 1 3 0 2 0 0 2 2 2 4 1 0 0 1 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 30 2 3 0 0 1 2 5 2 6 8 2 0 2 6 0
30 Ian Miller 31 8 12 5 7 4 4 25 1 2 3 2 1 4 0 0
Team 1 3 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 23 51 5 17 16 25 67 14 27 41 17 5 15 7 7
Opp 200 20 53 6 21 14 20 60 9 18 27 22 12 11 4 6
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Wake Forest |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Topped by Tar Heels, 81-75.
Florida State falls at home to North Carolina despite a combined 56 points from its trio of guards Ian Miller, Aaron Thomas and Montay Brandon.
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Ian Miller, Montay Brandon and Aaron Thomas combined to score 56 points but it wasn't enough in Florida State's 81-75 loss to North Carolina at the Donald L. Tucker Center Monday night.
The triumph was the Tar Heels' (18-7, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) seventh in a row while FSU fell to 15-11 and 6-8 in the mighty ACC.
The Seminoles were within two scores with 21 seconds to play but couldn't capitalize on some missed UNC free throws by converting on the offensive end. The Tar Heels finished the game by scoring 75 points in the final 30 minutes of action after going into the locker room at halftime down 36-33.
When it came down to it, UNC's depth coupled with FSU's quick turnaround following Saturday' win at Wake Forest proved to be the difference.
"We'll work through it," FSU coach Leonard Hamliton said afterwards, citing his team's lack of depth at this point in the season as the "hand we've been dealt."
Miller has been FSU's ace off the bench all season but Hamilton elected to start the talented senior at point guard. The Charlotte, N.C. native responded by scoring 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
He was aided in his offensive effort by back-court mates Thomas and Brandon. Thomas finished with 16 points while Brandon poured in a career high 18. Okaro White was limited in his minutes as he battled with foul trouble and finished with four points.
"We are not quite as deep as we have been in the past," Hamilton said. "For us to lose our most experienced senior player, it probably was a little more challenging than it would have been in other circumstances."
Defensively, the Seminoles couldn't defend the paint against Kennedy Meeks, who dropped 23 points on the hosts and grabbed seven rebounds. Marcus Paige had just four first-half points but erupted for 16 in the second frame to finish with 20 from his point-guard spot.
Brice Johnson (14) and J.P. Tokoto (10) also scarred in double figures, which helped counteract the fact that UNC standout James Michael McAdoo was held scoreless before fouling out in the second half. The Tar Heels shot 51.6 percent from the field for the game while FSU finished 43.1 percent in the same category.
North Carolina -- one of the nation's top rebounding teams -- grabbed 42 boards to the `Noles' 33 but FSU had just eight turnovers. Carolina had six blocks and scored 50 of its 81 points in the paint.
FSU built a 21-6 lead to start the game on Thomas' reverse lay-up before a North Carolina timeout at the 11:13 mark of the first half.
But UNC chipped away in a foul-plagued opening frame and cut the deficit to a one-score game with less than 30 seconds before the break. Gilchrist's nifty pass to a cutting Brandon was then fouled by a Carolina 3-pointer as time expired for a 36-33 FSU advantage at halftime.
Despite eight early points from Miller in the second half, Carolina tied the score at 53-53 and then built a 70-62 lead on Paige's 3-pointer with 6:03 left to play. Brandon's lay-up and free throw then made it a five-point contest before White and Thomas combined for four free throws to cut the score to 70-69.
A J.P. Tokoto dunk and two more points-in-the-paint from Meeks gave the `Heels a 74-69 but the visitors couldn't convert on two separate one-and-one opportunities from the charity stripe to extend the advantage and Brandon's put-back made it a 74-71 UNC lead with 30 second left.
Paige then hit a pair of free throws and the Seminoles couldn't cut it any closer than a 76-72 score down the stretch as UNC hit five of its six final free throws.
"We got beat by a team that had a little more firepower than we had," Hamilton said.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 17 1 3 0 0 2 2 4 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 40 6 19 0 4 4 5 16 1 3 4 2 1 3 0 2
30 Ian Miller g 37 7 16 5 8 3 4 22 0 4 4 1 2 1 0 1
32 Montay Brandon g 36 6 8 0 0 6 8 18 2 1 3 1 1 2 0 1
50 Michael Ojo c 13 1 1 0 0 3 4 5 2 3 5 5 0 0 0 0
1 Devon Bookert 7 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 15 2 4 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 17 2 3 0 0 2 5 6 1 3 4 2 1 1 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 5 5 0 0 0 0
Team 2 1 3
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 25 58 5 13 20 28 75 10 22 32 21 5 8 3 4
Opp 200 33 64 3 13 12 20 81 14 28 42 25 16 9 6 6
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Seminoles Upend Pitt, 71-66.
Okaro White scores 22 points.
PITTSBURGH, PA - Okaro White scored 22 points and Florida State played stifling defense to beat Pittsburgh 71-66 on Sunday.
Ian Miller added 19 points and Aaron Thomas 14 for the Seminoles (16-11, 7-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won two of their past three.
Lamar Patterson led Pitt (20-7, 8-6) with 22 points. The Panthers have lost three in a row and five of their past seven. They are in danger of falling out of contention for the NCAA tournament after winning 15 of 16 games to start the season.
Florida State led 37-31 at halftime. After making 13 of 24 shots in the first half, the Seminoles started the second half 1 for 11 from the field and went 7 1/2 minutes without a field goal. Despite those struggles, Florida State never lost the lead.
Pitt's own offensive problems during that stretch were the reason for that. The Panthers could only manage two field goals during the Seminoles' drought. They briefly tied the score at 42, but the Seminoles quickly regained control of the contest with back-to-back dunks by White, who was 7 for 13 from the field and also grabbed eight rebounds.
Pitt came back to tie the score again at 48, but the Seminoles made the big plays down the stretch. White scored nine points in the final 6:50, including a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired for a 58-52 lead that took the air out of the Panthers' sails.
The Panthers shot 37 percent from the field. They have shot more than 40 percent just twice in the past seven games.
The Seminoles used an 11-1 run midway through the first half to begin to pull away from the Panthers. The score was tied at 18 when the Seminoles held the Panthers without a field goal for almost 5 minutes.
Miller scored five of his 12 first-half points in that stretch. White gave Florida State its biggest lead of the half at 29-19 with 4:07 to go before intermission.
Pitt, which made 10 of its 26 shots from the field in the first half, used a 7-0 run to make it 34-31 late in the half, but Thomas made a 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer for the six-point lead at the break.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 36 7 13 2 3 6 6 22 1 7 8 2 0 0 3 1
25 Aaron Thomas g 33 1 9 1 4 11 12 14 1 3 4 3 2 2 1 1
30 Ian Miller g 32 5 12 3 7 6 6 19 0 0 0 1 5 2 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 31 2 3 0 0 2 5 6 2 10 12 1 0 1 0 1
50 Michael Ojo c 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1
1 Devon Bookert 24 1 4 0 2 0 0 2 0 1 1 2 4 3 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 10 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 1 1 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 19 3 3 0 0 2 2 8 2 2 4 5 0 2 0 0
Team 1 1 2
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 19 46 6 17 27 31 71 7 26 33 20 11 11 5 4
Opp 200 20 54 8 18 18 28 66 14 22 36 24 12 11 3 7
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Pittsburgh |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
FSU's Chance for Big Dance Boosted by Win vs. GT.
The Florida State men's basketball team gets a big 81-71 win against Georgia Tech Sunday night as March begins and the NCAA Tournament field starts to take shape.
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- March tipped off exactly the way it needed to if the Florida State men's basketball team wants to go dancing later in the month.
In need of a win to boost its NCAA Tournament chances, FSU beat Georgia Tech, 81-71, Sunday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center. After beating Pittsburgh last weekend, the Seminoles (17-11, 8-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) are now back to .500 in the conference and have strung together back-to-back wins for the first time since mid-January.
The `Noles have won nine consecutive games against the Yellow Jackets (13-15, 4-12).
Florida State accomplished each of those feats on its home court thanks to a balanced offense. FSU shot 52.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range while turning the ball over just 14 times. Perhaps most importantly, the Seminoles stayed out of foul trouble.
"We worked very hard at not reaching and grabbing," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We tried not to reach with our hands. ... I thought we did a decent job of contesting without fouling."
Four 'Noles scored in double figures with Okaro White pacing the effort with 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting and much-needed 10-of-11 clip from the free-throw line. White added three blocks, a steal and four rebounds.
Devon Bookert came off the bench to pour in 16 points of his own on a perfect-shooting night by the sophomore guard. Bookert finished 4-of-4 from the field with each of those shots finding net from 3-point distance. Aaron Thomas and Ian Miller also scored 15 points apiece.
For the first time in his career, Montay Brandon registered double-digits rebounds in back-to-back games. After notching 12 boards in FSU's win at Pittsburgh last week, Brandon grabbed 12 more against the Yellow Jackets while scoring seven points.
"Montay continues to rebound well for a guard and that was huge for us," Hamilton said.
Boris Bojanovsky had seven points as well, while adding four blocks and five rebounds. The Seminoles finished with 35 rebounds compared to Georgia Tech's 36. The Yellow Jackets actually won the points-in-the-paint battle, too, 34-24.
"It was a collective effort by the guys tonight," Hamilton said.
Robert Carter, Jr. led the way for Georgia Tech with 20 points and Trae Golden had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Georgia Tech was just 3-of-16 from long range.
The `Noles built a 13-point lead with 12:24 left in the game when Miller's cross-court pass was corralled by Bookert and then drilled from 3-point distance. But Georgia Tech chipped at that advantage and cut the score to single digits before Brandon's leaping put-back turned the scoreboard to 55-44.
Brandon then hauled in a defensive rebound on the opposite end and Bookert hit a 3-pointer in transition and White's bucket gave the Seminoles their largest lead of the night, 60-44.
A furious effort helped the Yellow Jackets trim the deficit to 78-67 with a minute to play but Miller's fast-break slam brought the crowd to its feat and halted any hope for some late-game heroics by the visiting team.
The Seminoles had an 11-0 first-half run and then a 20-3 run at the end of the half but only took a 34-31 lead into the break. FSU shot 45.8 percent in that opening frame, including a 57.1-percent mark from 3-point range.
The Yellow Jackets made just 12 of their 33 shots in the first half.
FSU's work continues on the road with a Tuesday-night game at Boston College.
"We've got to go on the road and gear up again," Hamilton said. "[Boston College] is a team you have to take seriously."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 32 4 7 0 0 10 11 18 2 2 4 3 0 5 3 1
25 Aaron Thomas g 31 3 7 0 2 9 10 15 0 4 4 4 1 2 0 0
30 Ian Miller g 31 5 11 2 6 3 4 15 0 4 4 0 3 4 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 31 2 6 0 0 3 4 7 2 10 12 0 2 2 0 0
50 Michael Ojo c 11 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
1 Devon Bookert 27 4 4 4 4 4 4 16 1 1 2 1 3 0 0 2
5 Jarquez Smith 6 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 1 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 26 3 3 0 0 1 2 7 1 4 5 1 0 0 4 2
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 22 42 6 12 31 37 81 7 28 35 12 9 14 8 5
Opp 200 25 69 5 27 16 19 71 18 18 36 23 9 8 3 5
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia Tech | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Thomas, White Help 'Noles Erase Eagles, 74-70.
Aaron Thomas and Okaro White combine for 50 points in the FSU men's basketball team's win at Boston College late Tuesday night.
CHESTNUT HILL, MA — Twenty-four lead changes. No advantage greater than four points. One Florida State victory.
In a start-to-finish back-and-forth ballgame late Tuesday night in New England, the FSU men’s basketball team picked up a huge, resume-helping 74-70 win at Boston College.
Neither team led by more than two possessions all evening at Conte Forum but the game’s final moments came down to what the Seminoles (18-11, 9-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) could do and what the Eagles (8-22, 4-13) couldn’t.
Leading 69-68, Devon Bookert missed a jumper but tracked down a critical offensive rebound before being fouled and hitting one of two free throws. Boston College then couldn’t inbound the basketball cleanly and turned it over before Ian Miller hit a free throw. After Boris Bojanovsky was whistled for goal-tending, ‘Noles star Aaron Thomas calmly hit both of his free-throw shots with 12.8 seconds left.
The Eagles, who hit 11 3-pointers on their home floor and shot 44 from that distance, hadn’t had issues hitting long-range shots late Tuesday. But despite getting two open looks from behind the line to tie the game in that final 12-plus seconds, they couldn’t convert and Bojanovksy iced the game with a final free throw.
The triumph pushed FSU above .500 in the ACC and gave the Seminoles a much-needed boost from its perch on the NCAA Tournament bubble. An important regular-season finale now awaits Florida State Sunday at home against Syracuse. A win against the Orange at the Donald L. Tucker Center could conceivably propel the ‘Noles into the Big Dance.
Tuesday’s result also ensures the ‘Noles will finish with at least a .500 record in the mighty ACC for the sixth consecutive season.
Thomas and Okaro White help make sure that happened as they combined to score 50 of FSU’s 74 points against Boston College.
Thomas has quietly become one of the better players in the ACC this season as his 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting led the way. White added 24 on a 9-of-12 clip. Bookert and Bojanovsky added nine and eight points, respectively.
For the game, FSU shot 56.8 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point land. The ‘Noles turned the ball over just 11 times. Boston College shot 52 percent overall and 44 percent from long range.
Olivier Hanlan had 20 points for the Eagles.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 38 9 12 0 2 6 7 24 2 3 5 2 0 1 1 2
25 Aaron Thomas g 36 9 14 3 5 5 6 26 1 5 6 3 2 2 0 0
30 Ian Miller g 26 2 6 1 4 1 3 6 2 2 4 1 3 3 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 33 0 2 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 2 1 0 2
50 Michael Ojo c 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
1 Devon Bookert 25 3 6 2 3 1 2 9 2 0 2 1 1 3 0 1
5 Jarquez Smith 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 21 2 3 0 0 4 7 8 0 2 2 3 1 0 1 1
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 25 44 6 14 18 27 74 8 14 22 13 10 11 3 6
Opp 200 26 50 11 25 7 10 70 12 17 29 24 13 16 3 4
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Boston College |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Seminoles To Face Maryland In ACC Tournament.
Seminoles to play Terrapins on Thursday at 12 Noon in Greensboro.
By Bob Thomas, Seminoles.com
TALLAHASSEE, FL - More than a month of offensive struggles by seventh-ranked Syracuse came to an abrupt end at the most inopportune time - with Florida State desperate to build on its season-ending NCAA Tournament-worthy resume in Sunday's Senior Day showdown against the Orange.
C.J. Fair scored a game-high 22 points, while Jerami Grant and Tyler Ennis added 16 each as Syracuse turned in their most dynamic offensive performance since Feb. 1 in a 74-58 victory over the Seminoles before a season-high crowd of 10,435 at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Syracuse (27-4, 14-4 ACC), which had lost four of five and not scored more than 62 points since its 91-89 win over Duke, put an end to Florida State's three-game winning streak. Senior forward Okaro White lead the Seminoles (18-12, 9-9) with a 20-point, 11-rebound performance, and classmate Ian Miller added 16 points in the regular season home finale for the classmates.
It marked the first Senior Day defeat by coach Leonard Hamilton's team in 10 years.
"They were better than we were today," Hamilton said.
That was especially true over the final 12 minutes, after White, Miller and Aaron Thomas rallied the Seminoles from an eight-point second half deficit to within one, 47-46. White's baseline jumper with 12:37 remaining brought the crowd to its feet and when Thomas drew an offensive charge from Fair at the other end of the floor, the Seminoles had a chance to lead for the first time since the 7:58 mark in the first half.
The momentum, however, quickly swung when Miller air-balled a 3-point attempt from the deep left wing and Orange guard Trevor Cooney countered with a 3-pointer for a 50-46 lead. Not even a media timeout could stem the tide.
"We had fought back up until that point, but I thought that was the turning point in the game," Hamilton said.
If it wasn't, Cooney's second 3-pointer - he was just 2-of-8 from beyond the arc - was, as it pushed the Syracuse lead to 53-46.
The Seminoles made just two field goals over the final 12 minutes as the Orange pulled away.
Not only did the Orange find their stride offensively, they were even more challenging on the defensive end, thanks to the return of Grant from a back injury. With the 6-8 forward on one wing of the Syracuse zone and Fair on the opposite side, the Seminoles had trouble executing in the half-court.
"Having Jerami back put everybody in the right place," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We're a completely different team with Jerami Grant. If he wasn't here we wouldn't be happy right now."
"It was a very big difference, because when you're going against a scout team in practice, they don't have a 6-8 playing the wing on one side and a 6-9 playing the wing on the other side and a 6-10 guy in the middle of the zone," said White. "When you get out there everything jumps up a notch and their athleticism shows. ...
"That's the most athletic team we've played this year." The Seminoles shot just 38 percent from the floor and were out-rebounded by a whopping 43-24 advantage. Still, FSU more than held its own until the midway point in the second half. There were seven first half lead changes before the Orange built an 11-point lead courtesy a scoreless stretch which spanned 4:18 by the Seminoles.
Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis scored seven of his team-high 12 first-half points during the FSU drought, including a three-point play which gave the Orange their largest lead - 31-20 - with 2:48 remaining.
Thomas' reverse layup put an end to the drought and sparked a 7-2 finishing run by the `Noles, which included a Miller 3-pointer and White's putback dunk at the buzzer. White was everywhere in the first half of his final regular season home game, scoring 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while grabbing six rebounds.
With its winning streak over, the Seminoles enter the ACC Tournament needing a strong performance to enhance their chances of getting back to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year hiatus. FSU will play Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.as either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed, depending on the outcome of Sunday night's Boston College-NC State game.
"It's not the first time we've been put in this situation," Hamilton said. "Our guys bounce back. I really do believe this whole scenario has been a great learning experience for this team. ... Our guys were put in a situation where they were in a sense of urgency. I expect them to come back, regroup and evaluate this game and see where we can improve."
Boeheim, whose 947 career wins rank No. 2 all-time, isn't sure how the ACC will fair when it comes to earning NCAA Tournament berths.
"I don't know what's going to happen," Boeheim said. "You look at it and there are so many teams that are really close. In my mind, this team (FSU) and Clemson and NC State are good teams. ... This week in Greensboro some teams will have the opportunity to help themselves. I think somebody in our league can play their way in with a good tournament."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 38 7 12 1 2 5 6 20 4 7 11 1 0 1 0 1
14 Robert Gilchrist f 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 38 4 14 0 6 6 6 14 0 2 2 2 1 4 0 1
30 Ian Miller g 33 6 13 2 4 2 2 16 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 24 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1
1 Devon Bookert 24 1 3 1 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 2
5 Jarquez Smith 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 24 1 5 0 0 3 4 5 3 3 6 3 3 0 2 0
50 Michael Ojo 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0
Team 3 3
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 19 50 4 14 16 20 58 8 16 24 14 7 11 2 5
Opp 200 29 60 5 15 11 15 74 17 26 43 16 10 12 5 9
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Syracuse | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Bojo's Mojo Sends 'Noles to Quarterfinals.
Boris Bojanovsky's game-winning dunk gives FSU men's basketball team 67-65 victory over Maryland to set up big Friday showdown against ACC Tournament's No. 1 seed, Virginia.
GREENSBORO, NC -- Boris Bojanovsky's first career double-double will forever be synonymous with the dunk that sent Maryland packing.
Led by Bojanovsky's 12 points (including the game-winning slam with 0.4 second left) and 12 rebounds, the Florida State men's basketball team beat the Terrapins, 67-65, Thursday in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum. The 7-foot-3 center's final emphatic points will go down in history as the last bucket ever registered against Maryland (17-15) as an ACC School.
"I mean, it was a great feeling," a smiling Bojanovsky said afterwards. "It was an important game for us, so I was really happy."
The Terrapins move to the Big Ten Conference this summer; the `Noles (19-12) move to the tournament's quarterfinals Friday at noon against No. 1-seed Virginia.
Tied at 63-63 with 1:48 left in a game that had seen the Seminoles' 11-point second-half lead dissipate, Ian Miller pump-faked an open 3-pointer and deftly dished the basketball to Bojanovsky who was fouled on the lay-in attempt. After Bojanovsky hit both free throws to officially give him that first double-double, the Terps answered with two Dez Wells free throws.
Knotted at 65 apiece with 16 seconds in regulation, Miller held for the final possession before finding Okaro Whiteinside. White then handed off to Bojanovsky for the well-timed, history-making jam.
"I thought Ian [Miller] showed a lot of experience being a senior," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "He was very patient, and we got the double ball screen with just enough time on the clock for us to get one shot up maybe and a rebound. That's what the plan was. When Ian came off the screen, he saw Okaro in front of the lane, and it was not a clean catch by Okaro so he bounce passed the ball to Boris and he finished the play, which was a very big play for us."
Miller finished the game with a team-best 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and a 5-for-5 mark from the free-throw line. Despite some early foul trouble, Aaron Thomas hit double figures with 14 points of his own.
Sophomore guards Montay Brandon and Devon Bookert added seven points each for a `Noles team that shot 48.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point distance.
The Seminoles turned the ball over 19 times but were helped in the victorious effort by the fact they out-rebounded the Terrapins, 39-26. Maryland was also held to 39.2 percent shooting.
Wells and Seth Allen poured in 18 points apiece for the Terps while Jake Layman added 15.
In the last three seasons, FSU now has 10 last-second, game-winning shots to its credit.
A win Friday against No. 6 Virginia could potentially push the bubble-position 'Noles into the NCAA Tournament following the big win against Maryland.
"I thought [Virginia] might be the most unselfish team in America where they always are playing to each other and creating easy, high percentage shots for each other," Hamilton said . "It's like they play without an ego but with a tremendous amount of intensity and focus."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 29 1 8 0 1 2 2 4 0 7 7 3 1 3 2 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 28 6 11 1 5 1 3 14 0 2 2 4 1 7 0 3
30 Ian Miller g 32 5 9 2 4 5 5 17 0 3 3 2 2 3 0 1
32 Montay Brandon g 36 3 8 0 0 1 2 7 2 2 4 2 0 1 0 0
50 Michael Ojo c 8 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 3 4 1 0 1 0 0
1 Devon Bookert 23 3 5 1 2 0 0 7 0 1 1 3 3 2 0 1
2 Marquez White 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 32 5 7 0 0 2 4 12 6 6 12 2 1 0 1 1
35 Joell Hopkins 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Team 3 1 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 25 52 4 12 13 21 67 13 26 39 19 9 19 3 6
Opp 200 20 51 8 23 17 22 65 7 19 26 20 8 12 5 11
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Maryland |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
FSU Falls to Top-Seeded Virginia, 64-51.
The Seminoles' time at the ACC Tournament comes to an end with Friday's quarterfinals loss to the No. 6 Cavaliers.
GREENSBORO, NC -- The Florida State men's team fell to top-seeded Virginia, 64-51, Friday in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals round.
The Seminoles (19-13) likely needed a win over the No. 6 Cavaliers (26-6) to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament and will now await official word on their post-season fate Sunday night. The NIT could be next for the 'Noles.
Friday's outcome at the Greensboro Coliseum was reminiscent of two prior setbacks to the Cavs earlier in the year.
One of the top defensive teams in all of college basketball, Virginia forced an average of 17 FSU turnovers in those ballgames. At the ACC Tournament, Florida State committed 15 giveaways, making it to difficult to chip away at a second-half deficit.
"Down the stretch we ran out of gas," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They kept executing and executing. That's why I think they're probably one of the top teams that I've seen in a long, long time. Playing within themselves, playing to their strengths, staying away from their weaknesses, making you pay every time you make a defensive mistake. That's to their credit.
"They're an outstanding basketball team."
Playing in his final ACC Tournament contest, senior Okaro White had a strong outing for the `Noles. The Dothan, Ala. native finished with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added six rebounds.
Aaron Thomas, who took a large leap in his sophomore season and is expected to be the face of the `Noles in 2014-15, added 13 points. Thomas was particularly good on thedefensive end despite the loss, contributing four steals. Senior Ian Miller posted 10 points and Devon Bookertfinished with five.
Boris Bojanovsky, who dunked the game-winning basket Thursday against Maryland to set up the quarterfinals showdown, was troubled by fouls all day and held scoreless.
It's very hard to come back on a team like Virginia when they're coming down and using 30 seconds of a shot clock," White said. "You can't get down on them."
For Virginia, Joe Harris and Anthony Gill, scored 20 and 14 points, respectively.
The Cavaliers shot 48 percent from the field while FSU shot at a 43-percent clip. The Cavs out-rebounded the 'Noles, 31-25.
FSU jumped out to an early first-half lead before Virginia grabbed its first advantage of the day at 10-9. The Cavaliers then built a 32-27 score at halftime following nine first-half `Noles turnovers. In the previous two meetings with Virginia, FSU had trailed by 13 and 19 points at the break.
"I do believe that we're more than capable of doing well in the NCAA Tournament," Hamilton said. "But at this particular point, it doesn't do you any good to play the what if game. Because there's a lot of criteria that the committee will use as they try to make their decision. We hope that we have fulfilled most of them. A win today probably would have helped us a lot better than a loss. So at this particular point there's not anything else we can do other than go back and try to regroup from this game and learn from it and move on and try to get a little rest, prepare ourselves for whatever tournament we are going to play in."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
10 Okaro White f 36 6 11 1 1 4 5 17 3 3 6 3 0 3 0 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 39 6 12 1 3 0 0 13 0 2 2 1 1 4 0 5
30 Ian Miller g 28 3 10 0 3 4 5 10 0 1 1 2 2 2 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 33 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 4 1 4 1 0 0
50 Michael Ojo c 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 2 0 0 0 0
1 Devon Bookert 21 2 6 1 1 0 0 5 0 1 1 2 2 3 0 1
2 Marquez White 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 8 1 2 0 1 0 1 2 1 1 2 1 0 0 2 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 17 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 2 1 0
Team 1 2 3
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 20 47 3 10 8 11 51 10 15 25 15 10 15 3 6
Opp 200 23 48 6 20 12 17 64 13 18 31 15 13 11 4 5
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Virginia |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Moving On.
Determined FSU turns back Florida Gulf Coast in NIT opener, 58-53.
By Bob Thomas, Seminoles.com
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Dunk City went doink in the face of Florida State's pesky defense as the Seminoles extended their season with a 58-53 over Florida Gulf Coast in Tuesday night's opening game of the National Invitation Tournament.
Sophomore Aaron Thomas scored 14 consecutive points in the second half on his way to a game-high 22, and the Seminoles (20-13) made just enough plays at both ends of the floor to record their seventh 20-win season in coach Leonard Hamilton's 12 seasons at the helm.
The Seminoles are moving on to face Georgetown, a 77-65 winner over West Virginia, at home on Monday in large part because the grounded the high-flying Eagles (22-13). FGCU, which earned its Dunk City moniker during last season's storybook run to the NCAA Tournament round of 16, failed to throw down a single dunk against the FSU defense. In fact, the Eagles shot just 39.6 percent from the floor, well below their 47 percent season average.
"They're extremely athletic, very physical and a tremendous rebounding team," Hamilton said of the Eagles. "We knew it would be a tremendous challenge. ... Our game plan was to try and neutralize them on the boards, because they do such a great job with their physicality and block-out schemes.
"They gave us all that we could handle. We were very fortunate to come out with a victory."
Beyond harassing the Eagles' perimeter shooters into a 6-of-19 performance from beyond the 3-point arc, the Seminoles forced 19 turnovers, which they converted into 17 points. Perhaps more impressively, they are still playing basketball despite the absence of senior guard and second-leading scorer Ian Miller, who was a late scratch with a toe injury. In Miller's absence, Hamilton went deep down his bench early in the game as walk-ons Marquez White, Joell Hopkins and Brandon Allen provided some valuable spot minutes.
Thomas and senior Okaro White did most of the heavy lifting for the `Noles, setting the tone early with a well-executed two-man game, then finishing off the Eagles by combining for 22 of FSU's final 26 points.
"Me and Aaron have got that brotherly connection," said White, who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. "We've both kind of come from tough situations, growing up in life. He's my roommate and we're always together. I give him that look like, `Let's go get it,' and he's always on board and looking to ride with me.
"I think that's what happened in the first half. When we found out Ian wasn't playing we got in the corner and talked and I said, `We've got to start with me and you.' We dapped it up and got going early."
While it was Thomas who helped dig the `Noles from a six-point deficit early in the second half with his 14-point scoring burst, it was White who helped finish off the Eagles. His slam follow of a Montay Brandon miss with gave the `Noles the lead for good with 4:57 remaining, 50-49. White added two more free throws on the next possession, but it was his put-back basket with 1:58 remaining which gave the FSU what proved to be an insurmountable 56-51 lead.
White's greatest contribution, however, may have come after the `Noles were bounced in the second round of the ACC Tournament by eventual champion Virginia, virtually sealing their NCAA Tournament fate. According to Thomas, White and fellow seniors Miller and Robert Gilchrist delivered a simple message:
"Whatever tournament we're in, let's just go all out and play hard. Either tournament we were in, we were still able to play for a championship."
"At the end of the day the biggest opportunity that helped me almost get over not going to the NCAA Tournament was that we lost to Syracuse here on my Senior Night," White said. "I want to leave here on a `W'; I want my last game at the Civic Center to be a win so that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to go all the way to New York and go as far as possible."
The second step on the way to potential trip to Madison Square Garden would not have been possible without Thomas, who continues to show why he is a star in the making. With the `Noles trailing 37-32 with 13 minutes to play the swingman began his scoring binge with a drive across the lane, punctuated by a tomahawk dunk. Twice the Cincinnati event the scored, but it was his 3-pointer with 8:20 remaining which gave the `Noles a 44-43 lead.
"Aaron put his big boys pants on tonight and stepped up," Hamilton said.
"I had no idea I had scored 14 in a row," Thomas said. "The only thing I was worried about was we were down at the time and we just needed to make some aggressive plays down the stretch to get the lead and we did that as a team."
FGCU and FSU swapped baskets until White's slam follow put the `Noles in front to stay.
Hamilton was most proud of the way the `Noles collectively responded in the face of adversity against a quality opponent, while staring at the prospect of seven months until playing again.
"I think that our guys, even though we were disappointed ... (realized) we were one game short of making the [NCAA] field," Hamilton said. "That can either fire you up and motivate you or it can deflate your enthusiasm. I think what it did for us was make us a little more determined. I was glad to see that because we're still basically a young team that's growing and maturing. Hopefully, this will spring-board us and give us a little bit of confidence for the remainder of the season and hopefully help us as we move on in the future."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 36 1 4 0 1 1 2 3 0 8 8 1 2 1 0 1
10 Okaro White f 37 6 12 2 2 3 4 17 3 4 7 1 1 2 1 4
25 Aaron Thomas g 40 7 15 2 5 6 11 22 1 3 4 2 1 3 0 1
32 Montay Brandon g 36 3 6 0 1 2 3 8 2 4 6 1 0 1 0 2
50 Michael Ojo c 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
2 Marquez White 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 1
14 Robert Gilchrist 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 27 2 5 0 0 4 5 8 2 3 5 2 1 5 1 0
35 Joell Hopkins 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Team 2 2
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 19 45 4 9 16 28 58 9 24 33 13 5 16 3 10
Opp 200 21 53 6 19 5 7 53 9 23 32 26 9 19 1 5
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Gulf Coast | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles Hang Triple Digits on Hoyas.
The Florida State men's basketball team beats Georgetown, 101-90, Monday night and advances to NIT's quarterfinals round.
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- This was supposed to be a defensive slugfest. Instead, an offensive explosion has the Florida State men's basketball team one victory away from a trip to the Big Apple.
After beating Georgetown, 101-90, Monday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center, FSU (21-13) will now host Louisiana Tech Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals round of the NIT. The winner of that contest will become one of four teams to earn spots in next week's NIT semifinals at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
Equally matched defensively as squads giving up less than 70 points per game and forcing opponents to shoot around 40 percent all season, the Hoyas-Seminoles showdown was supposed to be a dog fight.
But it became a shootout.
The `Noles eclipsed 90 points for the fourth time this season as they scored the second-most points in an NIT game in school history. On the flip side, the Hoyas (18-15) hadn't allowed a single opponent to register more than the 86 Kansas hung on them in a Dec. 21, 2013 loss. In fact, Georgetown hadn't allowed 100 points in regulation in a staggering 13 years.
"All in all, offensively I thought we executed very well," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.
Aaron Thomas helped end Georgetown's streak by matching his career high with 26 points in the triumph, shooting 8-of-10 from the field while adding six rebounds.
And Thomas wasn't the only hot shooter in garnet and gold as FSU shot 68.8 percent from the field as a team. Devon Bookert hit four of his five shots and all three of his 3-pointers to add a career-best 21 points, five rebounds and nine assists. Ian Miller returned from a foot injury to shoot 4-of-6 from 3-point land and notch 18 points and Okaro White, playing in his school-record 137th game at Florida State, was 5-of-7 from the field with 16 points, three blocks and four rebounds.
"Obviously, you like to have the sum of all your parts working well" Hamilton said. "We haven't had very many games where everybody was playing well at the same time."
Montay Brandon and Boris Bojanovsky each contributed six points and Jarquez Smith scored four, including a well-time, crowd-pleasing alley-oop in the first half during a key FSU run.
FSU was 11-of-16 from 3-point range.
"They were making threes no matter what defense we threw at them," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said.
Both teams were in a one-score game before a double technical foul was called on Bojanovsky and Georgetown's Bradley Hayes with 2:21 left in the first half. For whatever reason, the brief skirmish between the big men served as the spark to fireworks-filled final few minutes in the opening period.
All by the `Noles.
First Miller drained back-to-back 3-pointers and then Bookert's alley-oop to Smith blew the lid off the Tucker Center as a raucous Tallahassee crowd jumped to its feet. Following two Hoyas free-throws, Thomas was fouled on his made triple and the resulting four-point play propelled FSU into halftime with a 48-35 lead.
In the first half, FSU set an offensive tone by shooting 64 percent -- highlighted by the 12-2 run to close the frame.
After the break, Georgetown's 7-2 run halted any would-be carryover momentum from the game's first 20 minutes. But it wouldn't be enough as a 50-42 score with 17:49 left in the game was as close as the Hoyas would get as the `Noles would never lead by less than eight.
"I think that is just the result of every one playing selfless and just looking to make a play for someone else," Bookert said. "That freed up a lot of people."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 37 4 5 3 3 10 12 21 0 5 5 3 9 5 0 2
10 Okaro White f 29 5 7 2 2 4 4 16 0 4 4 3 1 1 3 1
25 Aaron Thomas g 38 8 10 2 3 8 10 26 1 5 6 4 2 2 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 18 2 4 0 0 2 4 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
50 Michael Ojo c 9 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 0
2 Marquez White 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 9 2 4 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 2 4 0 3 1 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 7 1 3 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 24 2 2 0 0 2 3 6 1 3 4 3 2 0 1 0
30 Ian Miller 26 5 7 4 6 4 4 18 0 3 3 2 2 3 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 1 2 3
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 30 44 11 16 30 38 101 5 24 29 21 16 16 5 4
Opp 200 29 61 9 22 23 31 90 12 14 26 30 10 11 1 9
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
Big Apple-Bound!
Seminoles advance to NIT semifinals with harrowing 78-75 home win.
By Bob Thomas, Seminoles.com
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Okaro White and his Florida State men's basketball teammates are headed back to New York after surviving the longest 40 seconds of the season to claim a spot in the National Invitation Tournament semifinals with a 78-75 win over Louisiana Tech.
Despite leading 76-68 with 40 seconds remaining, the Seminoles and their raucous Donald L. Tucker Center crowd were unable to exhale until Raheem Appleby's 3-pointer from the corner caromed off the front of the rim as the horn sounded.
"Everything just stopped," FSU sophomore swingman Montay Brandon said, describing the final seconds. "It was definitely like a roller coaster out there. We kept thinking the game was over and they just kept fighting back."
The Seminoles (22-13) had just enough fight, and good fortune, to find their way back to Madison Square Garden for the first time since 1997 and fulfill their mission. They will meet Minnesota Tuesday night in a rematch of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge game won by the Gophers early in the season.
"We're all focused on one goal, which is to accomplish something the school has never accomplished - get an NIT Championship in Madison Square Garden," said Brandon, who contributed seven of his 10 points over the final nine minutes.
And no Seminole is happier than White, who was born in Brooklyn and lived on Long Island until he was 11. White was off to a monster start in his home finale before picking up his third and fourth fouls just four minutes into the second half.
"What was there, almost 16 minutes left?" White said. "I didn't want to end my career like that. I'm proud of my brothers. They went out there and fought the whole game and I was able to come back in toward the end. ...
"It's very special to have my last games in college played in New York where it all started. We were able to go to Brooklyn last year and win that tournament. All my family was there. Now I've got another opportunity. It will be good for them to see me play my last games."
White scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, despite playing just 22 minutes. The Seminoles were trailing 45-44 when White headed to the bench with 15:57 and quickly saw that deficit grow to 51-44.
That's when the Seminole sophomores, led by Aaron Thomas, Boris Bojanovsky and Brandon - with modest but important contributions from senior Ian Miller - came to the rescue. Thomas scored nine of his game-high 21 points in a four-minute stretch as the Seminoles went on a 15-7 run. It was Thomas' 3-pointer with 9:38 remaining that gave the `Noles a 59-58 edge.
Smith (16 points) countered with an uncontested layup, but Brandon forged a 60-60 deadlock by making the second of two free throw attempts. Miller's lone 3-pointer of the game with 7:17 remaining gave the Seminoles a 63-60 lead they never relinquished.
Louisiana Tech (29-8) pulled within 65-64 with 4:56 remaining, but White's return to the floor seemed to inspire the `Noles, who ran off six unanswered points for a bit of breathing room.
The Seminoles, however, were never totally comfortable against the Bulldogs full-court pressure, which forced five FSU turnovers in the first three minutes of the second half to turn a 39-33 deficit into a 43-39 lead.
Louisiana Tech parlayed 15 Seminole turnovers into 18 points over the course of the game.
"We wanted a track meet," Bulldogs coach Michael White said. "In the first half we didn't really get that. (Turnovers were) the key to the second half. It was the key to overcoming a poor offensive performance. ....To play with that energy level, to fly around the court like that, especially when you're down, was really important."
The Bulldogs missed 16 of their first 20 shots and trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, which ended with the Seminoles holding a 37-33 lead.
White was the spark in the first half, scoring 14 points and snaring six rebounds.
"I was really feeling well when I came out for shoot-around," White said. "I just tried to stay aggressive. They were a little smaller inside. I tried to take advantage and I got it going in the first half, but unfortunately I was in foul trouble and I didn't get to have that spectacular night. I'm glad we went out there and fought and got the win."
White's young teammates had his back.
"We all knew we had to step up, especially with Okaro on the bench," Brandon said. "He carried us in the first half. ... We knew we had to make plays so we could win the game."
"We're just believing in one another," Thomas said. "We don't have guys worried about their numbers. We've all bought in to play hard and play (defense). Everybody brings something to the table."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 38 3 9 3 4 2 2 11 1 4 5 1 2 2 0 0
10 Okaro White f 22 6 10 1 1 7 9 20 4 4 8 4 2 2 1 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 39 8 17 2 4 3 4 21 1 8 9 2 0 1 0 2
32 Montay Brandon g 30 4 6 0 1 2 5 10 0 5 5 2 1 2 0 0
50 Michael Ojo c 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 8 0 2 0 0 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 15 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 5 1 0 2 2 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 13 1 5 0 0 2 2 4 3 3 6 2 0 1 2 0
30 Ian Miller 29 3 6 1 2 2 2 9 0 0 0 2 3 3 0 1
35 Joell Hopkins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 2 2 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 200 26 58 7 12 19 26 78 14 29 43 15 8 15 5 3
Opp 200 26 73 7 25 16 18 75 16 20 36 22 9 7 3 9
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana Tech | |||
| Florida State |
From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.
'Noles' Season Ends in 67-64 Overtime Loss to Gophers.
The Florida State men's basketball team bounced back from a 15-point deficit before forcing an extra period on Devon Bookert's 3-pointer Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
NEW YORK, NY -- The Florida State men's basketball team's season ended with a 67-64 overtime loss to Minnesota Tuesday night in the NIT semifinal round at historic Madison Square Garden.
The Seminoles' (22-14) year may be over but they didn't go down without a fight, thanks to a valiant comeback effort in the Big Apple. Despite trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, FSU chipped away at that deficit and Devon Bookert's 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left in regulation forced overtime.
But in the extra period the Gophers' (24-13) made seven of their 16 total free throws and the Seminoles were held to just one free throw and one field goal. Ian Miller's potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim as time -- and the `Noles' season -- expired.
Both teams played some bonus basketball because of a thrilling final four minutes of regulation play.
After Okaro White's two free throws gave the `Noles their first lead of the night at 51-50 with 4:10 on the game clock, Minnesota retaliated with back-to-back layups before Boris Bojanovsky snagged an offensive rebound and put back a score to make it a 54-53 game in favor of the Gophers.
Then trailing 60-55 with 21 seconds left after trading free throws for two Bookert lay-ups, White's intentional foul on Malik Smith then resulted in two missed free throws for the Gophers. White then secured the defensive rebound, flipped the ball to Bookert and the speedy point guard raced down the court and hit the overtime-forcing 3-pointer.
Bookert finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. Playing in their last collegiate contest, White and Miller each scored 16 points with the former contributing a double-double with 12 rebounds.
`Noles star sophomore Aaron Thomas was just 1-of-8 from the field for four points before fouling out late in the game.
The Seminoles shot 38.5 percent from the field and Minnesota was 38.9 percent. Hollins and Mathieu both scored 17 points to help set up an NIT finals matchup with SMU, who beat Clemson earlier in the night.
FSU won the rebounding battle 40-33 but had 18 turnovers to the Gophers' 11.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === === ==== ==== === == === == === ===
1 Devon Bookert g 43 4 10 1 3 4 6 13 2 3 5 3 3 0 0 0
10 Okaro White f 40 3 9 1 4 9 11 16 5 7 12 4 0 3 2 0
25 Aaron Thomas g 36 1 8 0 3 1 2 3 1 5 6 5 0 5 0 0
32 Montay Brandon g 37 1 3 0 0 4 6 6 1 2 3 3 2 1 0 3
50 Michael Ojo c 16 2 4 0 0 0 0 4 2 4 6 0 1 0 0 1
2 Marquez White 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Jarquez Smith 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
14 Robert Gilchrist 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
15 Boris Bojanovsky 11 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 2 2 0 1 3 0
30 Ian Miller 35 6 15 2 8 2 2 16 0 2 2 3 0 7 0 1
35 Joell Hopkins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 Brandon Allen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 3 1 4
=========================================================================
FSU 5 225 20 52 4 18 20 27 64 16 24 40 22 6 18 6 5
Opp 225 21 54 9 20 16 25 67 12 21 33 23 12 11 2 6
| 1 | 2 | OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | ||||
| Minnesota |