North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Falls to Seminoles, 78-52
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score
By Tony Haynes
Tallahassee,
Florida
State’s opening possession Saturday, catching a pass on the left wing and flying past Brandon Costner for a dunk.
Thornton then got plenty of help from his friends.
Disruptive on defense and deadly from the 3-point line, the Seminoles (18-11, 6-9) opened up a big lead early and coasted to a 78-52 victory over NC State (14-13, 4-10).
“It was senior day and they were ready to go,” said NC State head coach Sidney Lowe, who returned to the Wolfpack bench after missing the second half of Wednesday night’s game at North Carolina due to illness. “They set the tone from the very first play when
Thornton had the ball and went around
Brandon for a dunk. I think that play right there let us know that they would be ready to play.”
Thornton, the ACC’s leading scorer and rebounder in conference games, scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds helping FSU to snap a five-game losing streak. But as had been the case during its skid,
Florida
State didn’t need the 6-8
Thornton to do it all.
Center Uche Echefu added 13 points and seven rebounds, while guards Isaiah Swann and Ralph Mims finished with 12 points apiece.
In building a 39-21 halftime lead, the Seminoles scored 17 points off of 14 Wolfpack turnovers, while also knocking down 7-of-11 3-point shots in the opening half. In conference games,
Florida
State came in shooting 39 percent from the three point line to rank first in the league. And in the first half, the ‘Noles were able to shake Swann and Mims loose off of a variety of screening actions for open looks from the arc. Swann hit four of five 3-point attempts in the opening half.
“Mentally, we had a number of breakdowns on the defensive end,” Lowe said.
Leading 12-7 eight minutes into the game,
Florida
State buried NC State with a flurry of 3s, fastbreak buckets off of steals and stickbacks after offensive rebounds in a 20-5 run that made it 32-12.
Sidney Lowe’s Wolfpack never really recovered the rest of the way.
After cutting
Florida
State’s lead down to 46-32 on a pair of Gavin Grant free throws with 14:24 left in the game, NC State didn’t seem to have enough gas in the tank to get any closer. Swann opened FSU’s final push to the finish by drilling a 3-pointer to put the ‘Noles up 49-32. Following Ben McCauley’s first basket of the game with 13:01 remaining,
Florida
State got a jumper from Mims and a 3-point play underneath by Echefu to build the lead back up to 20.
Scoring all of his points in the second half, forward Gavin Grant paced the Pack with 15 points, nine of which came on free throws. Brandon Costner, who sat on the bench most of the second half after taking an inadvertent elbow to the side of the face, finished with 14.
For the second straight game, NC State had a difficult time getting the ball into McCauley, who scored just two points on 1-of-4 shooting. Over his last two games, McCauley has taken just seven shots.
“They’re starting to bump him and not allow him to get his position on the box,” said Lowe. “When he comes in there, they’re knocking him off the box and they’re fronting him some. He’s got to work harder. When he gets it in there he’s got to make a good move. Right now, he’s giving in to the bumps. He’s got to be physical with it and seal those guys off and demand the basketball.”
With McCauley unable to get the ball down low and guard Engin Atsur making only 3-of-13 shots, the Wolfpack hit just 40.5 percent from the floor.
Florida
State drained 29-of-57 from the field for 50.9 percent.
Quicker to the ball all day, the Seminoles also got 17 points after 12 offensive rebounds compared to only two second chance points for NC State.
Box Score
