Peegs.com - Noles face another desperate foe

February 18, 2009

Florida State's last hardcourt encounter with a desperate Atlantic Coast Conference foe - at Wake Forest - ended with Leonard Hamilton's Seminoles on the wrong end of Saturday's 23-point loss.

Now the 'Noles return home, where holding serve at the Donald L. Tucker Center, will likely determine whether Florida State (19-6, 6-4 ACC) can halt its 10-year drought since its last NCAA Tournament appearance.

"I'm interested to see how we bounce back," said Hamilton, whose team has not lost consecutive games this season heading into tonight's game against Miami. "I didn't think we played with the same energy, that we had played with earlier, to that point.

"We have to mentally mature to the next point. I thought Wake Forest was playing with such a passion the other night and I expect Miami will be coming in with even an elevated passion. We're going to have match or surpass those more mature teams in how they've been able to approach the game."

Frank Haith's Hurricanes (15-9, 4-7) have lost five of six - and six of eight - but have been extremely competitive throughout that stretch. Miami has lost three overtime games (Virginia Tech, N.C. State and Duke) by a total of 11 points and came within four points of knocking off first place North Carolina on Sunday.

Their lone win in that stretch is a 27-point victory over Wake Forest.

In short, the Hurricanes are in the same position the Seminoles have been in heading down the stretch in three of the last four seasons.

"I think it's more important that you try not to lose two games in a row," "Right now, we just need to get W's."

If not, the young Seminoles could find themselves backed into a similar corner - back on the NCAA bubble - with consecutive road games at Virginia Tech and Boston College on the immediate horizon.

FSU senior guard Toney Douglas has spent the week checking the pulse of his teammates, some of whom Hamilton acknowledges, appear to be feeling the strain common among first-year ACC players.

Douglas' message to his teammates is to the point:

"Don't take this opportunity for granted. We're 6-4; we're right there. Don't get satisfied. (Miami) is hungry. They need this win so they're going to come hard at us. We just have to match their toughness and physicality."

"I feel like it's almost a must-win for us ? just to bounce back and build our own confidence up," added FSU sophomore guard Jordan DeMercy. "There's not a lot of pressure, but I feel like we should win."

To this point in the season the 'Noles have shown amazing resiliency in the aftermath of defeat. North Carolina is the only other ACC team this season that has avoided consecutive defeats.

In order to keep that streak alive the 'Noles must contend with the ACC's hottest player. Miami senior guard Jack McClinton has scored more than 30 points in each of the last three games, aided by his league-leading 48 percent 3-point shooting.

"The only way you can stop him is to always know he's going to be willing to shoot it at any point in time," said DeMercy, FSU's top perimeter defender. "You have to always crowd him, try to limit him and have him drive past you where you have help defense, instead of giving him space to shoot a 3-pointer, because half the time it's going in."

Hamilton, however, is mindful of McClinton's supporting cast as well.

"He gets so much attention that you forget about (James) Dews and (Adrian) Thomas, who comes off the bench and is shooting 46 percent," Hamilton said, adding Jimmy Graham and Brian Asbury to his list potentially dangerous Hurricanes. "They are a good basketball team that is led by Jack McClinton, but if you go back and look at the games they've won, those other guys have made impacts as well."

That was the case when the 'Canes stopped the Seminoles 75-69 on Jan. 21 in Coral Gables. McClinton scored 28 points, but Thomas and Lance Hurdle hit critical baskets down the stretch to spark Miami's victory.

Conversely, the Seminoles must get similar contributions to aid Douglas, who scored 30 points in last month's loss to Miami. Center Solomon Alabi was finished with 10 points as FSU's lone other double-figure contributor.