by Bill from Tampa
Leonard Hamilton summed it up after the game. "Sometimes you just have to grind them out."
And that is exactly what his Florida State Seminoles' team did.
After trailing at the half by one point, FSU cranked up the intensity on both ends of the floor in beating Georgia Tech 68-54.
The win marks the first time Florida State has won six straight victories in the ACC since it first joined the league twenty one years ago.
Even with a slow start, the 'Noles, a Bernard James' slam dunk off the slip screen gave FSU a 20-11 lead with 6:30 left in the first half. Unfortunately Florida State scored just two more baskets during the remainder of the period.
"We got great looks that just didn't fall", Hamilton said referring to the first half offensive output. "Sometimes you have a tendency to lose energy on both ends when shots don't go down."
"We were just somewhat lethargic in the first half."
And they were. The week off showed.
A string of eight straight free throws gave Tech its only lead at 25-22. Jeff Peterson scored his only points on a jumper just inside the arc to end the scoring just before intermission.
"It's been a long time since we trailed at the half [at home]", Hamilton commented.
That all changed in the second half. It wasn't exactly easy, but FSU got the job done shooting 62% over the final twenty. Attacking and going inside more resulted in baskets and/or fouls.
FSU definitely didn't light it up from the charity stripe shooting just 12-20. But a short-handed Yellow Jacket team (Leading Tech scorer Glen Rice Jr. was out with turf toe) wore down in the later stages with foul difficulties.
But Hamilton credited GT with a solid game plan saying "that was one of their better games. They actually played better without Rice. They had a sense of urgency."
James and Michael Snaer were the offensive catalysts for the second half. James scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and Snaer played all of the second period scoring 16 of his game high 21 points.
Back to back baskets from well down low in the lane by James and a three pointer from the right wing by Snaer gave FSU a working margin, 41-32.
Okaro White followed that with the highlight reel bucket of the game. White drove off the left side through two defenders and elevated well away from the basket for the slam dunk making it a double digit lead for the Seminoles with 13:02 to play.
Tech did close it to 49-42 at the 7:49 mark on a bank shot by Mfon Udofia.
Snaer made quick work of that with back to back three's. Devidas Dulkys got a fast break layup off the steal and outlet lob pass by James. The soon to be 27 year old added a slam dunk off an assist by Snaer to give FSU its largest lead of the game, 60-45, with 2:10 remaining.
It could have been a nineteen point lead during that 11-3 run. But the 'Noles missed four consecutive free throws.
Against a defense like Florida State's, a team with a shortage of scorers just was not going to erase that kind of deficit.
A meaningless three at the buzzer by Brandon Reed made the final margin.
Also indicating the renewed focus after halftime, FSU turned the ball over just 4 more times, finishing with 15. The 'Noles matched that with 15 assists on 24 baskets. Luke Loucks led the way in that category with 7 assists.
For the game, FSU shot 49% from the floor and 8-17 three pointers; 6 of 10 in the second half.
On the defensive side, the Seminoles forced Tech into 14 second half turnovers, giving the visitors 24 for the game that included 14 steals by FSU.
The onslaught forced GT head coach Brian Gregory to use all of his allotted five timeouts well before the end of the game.
White was the only other FSU player in double figures with 11 points.
Reed led the Jackets with 18 and Daniel Miller added 10.
The Seminoles improve to 15-6, 6-1 to stay atop the ACC, tied with North Carolina. The 'Noles will host a very tough defensive Virginia team on Saturday at 1:00 PM and will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
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