After losing to Miami, the Terps have stayed in Florida for several days preparing for Florida State tomorrow.
12-4, 1-1 Maryland hopes that preparation will allow them to return to College Park with an ACC victory against the 14-3, 1-1 Seminoles.
FSU has:
Wins against – Jacksonville, LaSalle, Stetson, Coastal Carolina, Western Ill., Cincinnati, California, Florida, Georgia St, Tennessee Tech, Charleston Southern, Western Kentucky, Texas A&M CC, @NCST.
Losses against – Northwestern, Pittsburgh (by 8), Duke (by 8)
Conference wins are always hard to come by, especially on the road.
MD is not going to sneak-up on a team that has played the schedule FSU has. Head Coach Leonard Hamilton (former HC of the Washington Wizards) is certainly aware of the start MD got off to against Miami.
You can get bet he is telling his team to get out early on MD, to try and take the life out of the Terps.
If you are Gary and the Terps, winning this game is a bonus. What you want to achieve, is having a legitimate chance to win down the stretch.
When you look at their stats, what jumps out at you is that they only have one player (Senior Guard Toney Douglas) avg double figures in scoring.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/fan/stats
Douglas is having a big-year with 18.5ppg, 34.7% from 3, 79.4% from the line.
Outside of Douglas, FSU does have five other players avg at least 6.8 ppg.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=teamreports-2009-ncaab-fan&prov=sportsxchange&type=team_report
Florida State Team Report
Yahoo! Sports
Getting Inside
The Seminoles won a game Tuesday night that might define their season.
In a place where they’ve often struggled, against a team that often has been a nemesis, the Seminoles produced an impressive final surge to defeat North Carolina State 78-65.
“It was a team effort tonight and a significant win for us,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “I thought we maintained our poise.”
The victory now negates FSU’s home loss to Duke three days earlier. The Seminoles (14-3, 1-1 in ACC) have momentum and some confidence building for Saturday’s home game against Maryland. Again, they’re in a situation where they need to win this game, and try and get another road win against Miami next week before facing North Carolina.
Hamilton opted to go with a new starting lineup. Uche Echefu, a regular starter last season who has been slow developing this year while recovering from an injury, returned to the lineup along with first-year player Derwin Kitchen.
“We have been missing Uche’s contribution,” Hamilton said. “We needed that. We kind of changed the lineup a bit just because (Uche) is kind of rounding into shape. Kitchen, I thought, gave us some points we haven’t been getting.”
This win was significant for a variety of reasons. The last time the Seminoles won two straight games against the Wolfpack was in 1998. It’s the first time they’ve won road games at N.C. State in consecutive years since 1992-93.
Florida State 78, North Carolina State 65: This game featured 20 lead changes and plenty of emotional swings. The Wolfpack grabbed a 12-4 lead to start the game. The Seminoles then responded with a huge run that produced a 12-point lead late in the first half and forced N.C. State to take a pair of timeouts. But N.C. State cut the deficit to three points at halftime. The Wolfpack took a lead early in the second half and kept the game close.
The Wolfpack took a 63-59 lead with 6:13 remaining. But from that point, FSU allowed only one more basket. In the meantime, the Seminoles reeled off 12 consecutive points to take control for good.
Notes, Quotes
• The Seminoles built a gaudy record. They won a record 13 nonconference games. They had good games against ranked teams.
But all that didn’t matter in the second half of FSU’s game against Duke, when the Seminoles found themselves down by 25 points on their home court. While FSU battled back and closed the deficit to eight points, it still didn’t mask the obvious.
Is this team another mirage?
For so long, FSU fans have seen the same scenario. Once the Seminoles begin ACC play, reality is harsh. This team showed its many flaws vs. Duke, headlined by the fact they continue struggling to shoot the ball well enough to excite anyone.
“Very few people will play with the kind of defensive energy that Duke brings,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “They have a real different kind of scheme.
“But I think it’s more about us just understanding how we have to play with the talents that we have. We have to get the ball inside more. That’s going to help us get to the foul line. I think we must do a much better job in our ball movement and ball screens.”
• The Seminoles’ 13 victories tied the school record for non-conference wins and set a school record for the earliest date 13 wins had been achieved by the basketball team at Florida State.
• Florida State entered Tuesday’s meeting with N.C. State leading the ACC with 101 blocked shots.
Quote To Note: “Right now they are further along than we are. We have to admit that. I still like our chances I like the team.”—FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton following his team’s loss to Duke in the Seminoles’ ACC opening game.
Strategy And Personnel
Center Solomon Alabi entered Tuesday’s game against N.C. State with 32 blocked shots. His total is the fifth-highest total by a Seminole freshman in school history.
Forward Uche Echefu’s six rebounds against Duke made him the 29th player in school history with 500 career rebounds.
Forward Chris Singleton was averaging double figures the first 16 games of the season.
Player Rotation: Usual Starters—PG Toney Douglas, SG Jordan DeMercy, F Ryan Reid, F Chris Singleton, C Solomon Alabi. Key Subs—G Luke Loucks, G Derwin Kitchen, G Deividas Dulkys, F Uche Echefu, F Xavier Gibson.
In Focus: A defining point in the season for the Seminoles. They have to go 2-1 in this stretch of games, so they are 2-2 in late January. When you’re trying to finish at least 8-8 in the league, it becomes more of an uphill fight when you lose a home game in the ACC. They have enjoyed good success playing in Miami, where the crowd is less of a factor.
Roster Report:
• F Chris Singleton, a true freshman, ranks fifth among all ACC freshmen with 9.8 points per game scoring average, after scoring 12 last night. He is third among freshmen in rebounds per-game average.
• C Solomon Alabi, one of the tallest players in the league at 7-foot-1, blocked two shots against the Wolfpack, giving him 34 blocked shots through the first 17 games. He has now surpassed the amount of blocked shots (33) produced all last season by Uche Echefu, who did it in 34 games.
• G Derwin Kitchen continued his strong play, coming off the bench to score 16 points against the Blue Devils.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.