Peegs.com - FSU defeats Miami for 20th win of season

February 18, 2009

video FSU-Miami game highlights

Florida State earned its 20th win of the season, defeating Miami 80-67 Wednesday behind 24 points from ACC Player of the Year candidate Toney Douglas. The young Seminoles squad delivered the win in response to their 23-point loss at Wake Forest; their worst of the season.

"Great teams don't lose two in a row," Douglas said. "Everybody has something to play for, even Miami. They were coming off a tough loss where they probably should have won against North Carolina. We knew they were going to bring it so we had match them and even bring it more."

Trailing 31-30 at the half, the Seminoles (20-6, 7-4 ACC) used a well-rounded effort down the stretch to pull ahead and away from the Hurricanes (15-10, 4-8 ACC). Douglas led the outburst with 17 second half points.

Douglas was joined in double digits by senior forward Uche Echefu who had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Derwin Kitchen added 13 points.

"To say the least, I am very pleased with the effort that our players gave tonight," Leonard Hamilton said. "In the second half, we did a much better job on the offensive end executing, getting the ball inside, and taking care of the ball. When you are attacking the basket, and getting the ball inside in the interior of the zone, you can get shots and you can get to the foul line."

Florida State outscored Miami by 17 points from the free throw line, converting 31-of-35 (88.6%) attempts.

As impressive as the Seminoles' offensive effort was, their defensive effort was even better.

Hurricanes' senior guard Jack McClinton saw his three-game streak of 30-point games - he had scored 101 points in the stretch - end with a 13-point performance for Frank Haith's squad. Miami was led by junior guard James Dews who had 19 points.

"From the defensive stand point, I thought we gave a tremendous effort from all our players, and a high level of concentration," Hamilton said. "When you face a team that is able to strike as quick as they can, you have to have a team defensive concept when guarding kids like Dews and McClinton.

"You can't depend on the guys who are guarding them, you have to have all kinds of help from all your teammates, and I thought we stuck with the game plan for the most part and were at least able to contest some of those shots. A couple of them bounced long and we got some easy baskets that really made the difference in the game down the stretch."

The Seminoles last won 20 games during the 2006-07 season when they finished 22-13. The victory also marked their seventh conference victory of the season, which marks the fourth consecutive season they have won at least seven ACC games. It's the first time in school history FSU has won at least seven ACC games in four consecutive seasons.

While the Seminoles left the Donald L. Tucker Center feeling good about themselves, they know there is still work to do in order to end their 10-year NCAA Tournament drought.

"We are still not going anywhere off of seven wins," sophomore wing Jordan DeMercy said. "But we did build some momentum beating our rival like that. We just have to build it and we have a big road trip coming up."

They play at Virginia Tech on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised by SUN Sports before traveling to Boston College on Tuesday to face the Eagles.