December 30, 2006

Chris Nee
Warchant.com

On Friday night in Tampa, Florida State was hoping to wrap up its out-of-conference schedule with a victory against a quality opponent. But early on the 'Noles got off to a rough start.

Go-to forward Al Thornton found himself in early foul trouble and FSU found itself behind 16-5 a little over four minutes into the game. Even with their senior All-America candidate sitting on the bench with two fouls, the rest of the team put together a 21-4 run to end the half to give the 'Noles a 45-34 halftime advantage.

The 'Noles would never look back. When the final buzzer sounded, FSU extended its winning streak to eight with a walk-away 92-62 victory.

"This was a very, very important game to us and I thought our kids were a little overanxious (early on)," Hamilton said. "We settled down after about the first five minutes and we responded well and that anxiousness became focus and I thought we played extremely well the remainder of the game."

Not only was FSU able to come from behind in the first half with their star player on the bench, the team was able to extend on its lead. The 'Noles' ability to excel without Thornton on the floor drew rare praise from head coach Leonard Hamilton.

"I was impressed with our team in the first half if only for the fact that we were able to extend the lead with Al playing only four minutes in the first half," Hamilton said. "I was glad to see them respond as a team emotionally and focus-wise."

With Thornton's scoring punch on the bench, guard Jason Rich picked up the pace. The junior from Pensacola (Fla.) made 6-of-7 and scored 15 of his team-leading 17 points in the first half.

"We have been saying all year this is a good team," Rich said. "Obviously Al is our leader, our best player but we had his back when he went down with two fouls."

Down the stretch, FSU relied on its defense to to stop all hopes of a possible Providence (9-3) comeback. The Friars missed 15 of 20 shots in the second half and hit just 36 percent from the field for the game. Florida State also forced 22 turnovers which led to 29 points.

On the evening, Rich was joined in double-figures by Isaiah Swann, who added 14, as well as Thornton who score nine of his 11 points in the second half. The 'Noles also got a solid effort from freshman Ryan Reid, who contributed seven points and seven boards in 18 minutes of play.

The 'Noles' 12-2 start marks the third time in the past four years that FSU has reached this mark. Despite the strong start, it will be FSU's ability to win games in the ACC that will determine if they are able return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.

But if you ask Providence Coach Tim Welsh, the 'Noles will be dancing when March rolls around.

"We got blitzed tonight by a very good team," Welsh said. "We'll chalk it up to a learning experience playing a team that's sure to be in the NCAA tournament."

Florida State will return to the court on next Wednesday in Tallahassee at the Donald L. Tucker Center when they host their ACC opener against Clemson at 7:00 P.M.

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