Posted by BillFromTampa

The game probably should have been called at halftime because by then it was definitely over. In what Leonard Hamilton called “one of the poorest games we have played in four or five years” Florida State was trounced by 3^rd ranked Pittsburgh 88-66.

The score was closer than the game actually was with Pitt playing sloppily down the stretch allowing FSU to close the gap by a few points.

Unfortunately the Panthers didn’t play as sloppy as the ‘Noles did for most of the game.

Hamilton had little trouble expressing his displeasure with his team’s performance. “I was disappointed in our concentration and focus. As a coach you wonder why that happens. We looked like we were stepping in mud at times” he said.

FSU came into the game concerned about Pitt big man Aaron Gray, a candidate for player of the year. However it was the Panthers’ perimeter game that burned FSU connecting on 10 of 18 three pointers.

Hamilton assessed the defense saying” We were a half step slow”. “We didn’t fight through screens and we didn’t contest shots.” All that led to allowing Pitt to shoot 63% from the field.

Pittsburgh meanwhile played a great team system doing the things like making the extra pass. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said he has nine starters and they played like nine starters.

Expecting more of a deliberate game by Pitt and wanting to use it’s running game it was FSU that was actually run out of the building as the Panthers time and again beat the ‘Noles down the floor.

The Panthers put five players in double figures with Antonio Graves leading the way with 17 points. Mike Cook had 15; Ronald Ramon 12 all on three pointers, Tvral Biggs 11, and Sean Young had 10.of the bench’s 19 total points.

In fact Pitt’s bench outscored FSU 41-5.

One bright spot for FSU was Toney Douglas who finished with a career high 23 points while seeing a lot of time at the two guard spot.

Al Thornton added 16 despite spending much of the first half on the bench with two fouls, Uche Echefu ended with 13 points.

That pointed out the problem for FSU. ’We can’t have just one, two, or three players playing well for us. We need all nine executing at a high level for us to be successful” Hamilton commented, Not everyone had their head into the game and apparently was intimidated to some degree by the atmosphere.

The game started off well enough for the Seminoles with Echefu canning three straight three pointers to give FSU a 9-5 lead. But it did not take Pittsburgh very long to erase that small lead when Cook hit a three ball putting the Panthers up 13-11.

Shooting 80% early FSU then went cold connecting on just 1 of its next 6 shots, Sloppy plays such as air balls, missed layups, and dribbling the ball out of bounds along with other assorted turnovers characterized the ‘Noles play for the remainder of the half.

It all seemed to go south for FSU when Thornton picked up his second foul at the 11:36 mark.

With Thornton on the bench Douglas tried his best to keep FSU close. A three pointer at with 7:32 left in the half pulled FSU to 30-25. Pitt then went on a 13-0 run to blow the game open.

The Panthers made good use of switching their defenses that seemed to confuse the Seminoles’ offense.

By halftime the ‘Noles trailed 50-30 and for all intensive purposes the game was over.

It was much of the same in the second half as Pittsburgh at one point led by 35 points.

So the ‘Noles wil try and put this game behind them as they travel to Wisconsin as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

“If this team responds as it has in the past, it should bounce back for Wisconsin.” Hamilton observed.

Tipoff is next Tuesday at 7:30 PM and will be shown on ESPN2.