Sports: A microcosmic defeat for Florida State 69-61

College basketball

A microcosmic defeat for Florida State 69-61

The Seminoles' season is wrapped up in one game: bring a top team to the edge of an upset only to go home with a loss.

By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times Staff Writer

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- For Florida State, the end of the season Friday afternoon eerily mirrored the beginning and the middle.

As they had so often, the Seminoles seemed poised to defy logic and shock the world only to fall agonizingly short in the waning moments -- this time 69-61 to top seed and No. 9-ranked Wake Forest in the ACC tournament quarterfinals before an announced 23,745 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

"It's a learning experience for all of us," junior guard Tim Pickett said. "This whole year has made us hungrier."

The No. 9-seeded Seminoles (14-15), who needed the upset to ensure a .500 finish and qualify for NIT selection, lost to Florida by a point in December, to North Carolina by a point in early February, to Maryland by two in mid February and to Wake Forest by four a few weeks ago.

This one was even more of a near miss.

Despite having to face Clemson in the play-in game late Thursday night, the Seminoles led by as much as 11 late in the first half and were ahead midway through the second half 48-45. The Demon Deacons (24-4) then switched to a smaller, quicker lineup.

"That was a reaction to Florida State's defensive prowess," said Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser, whose team advanced to meet No. 4 seed North Carolina State today at 1:30. "I think that was the key, the adjustment that we made."

Wake Forest demonstrated remarkable patience and unselfish passing to score on eight straight possessions, including 3-pointers by forward Vytas Danelius and guard Taron Downey, that led to a 63-56 lead with 4:27 left.

"They caused us to expend a lot of energy by guarding them on seven, eight, nine, 10 passes," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

"(The fatigue) really showed then," Pickett said.

But as they had done during the season, the Seminoles kept the game close. Pickett hit a 3-pointer and, in the next two minutes, the vaunted Seminoles defense forced a turnover, a missed 3-pointer and a missed driving layup.

But as it had done during the season, the Seminoles offense could not capitalize.

Freshman point guard Todd Galloway missed a driving layup, Pickett missed a 3 and sophomore forward Adam Waleskowski, inserted for Trevor Harvey to guard Danelius away from the basket, botched an open layup with about 90 seconds remaining.

"I was going up to dunk it, but it kind of slipped out of my hand and I tried to lay it in, but it rattled out," he said.

FSU got no closer than four the rest of the way. Hamilton, however, said those three possessions were not as important as Wake Forest's rebounding edge (43-22) or Wake Forest's free-throw edge of 12 more attempts.

"Our inability to get to the foul line continues to plague us. I do find it interesting that Tim could take 19 shots and not get fouled. That's got to be some kind of record," Hamilton said, diplomatically.

Pickett went tumbling on a drive in the final minute without drawing a foul that might have cut the deficit to two. Pickett got up and, as he ran by ESPN commentator Dick Vitale, said, smiling, "I can't believe this."

But instead of dwelling on what might have been on this day, the Seminoles seemed upbeat about tomorrow.

They lose only one key contributor, Harvey, who averaged 8.4 points, 5.1 rebounds. In his place, Hamilton will welcome one of the nation's top-rated classes: sharpshooting 6-5 guard Vakeaton Wafer, 6-10 center Diego Romero and 6-6 forward Antonio Griffin.

"We have made a tremendous amount of progress and improved in a lot of areas," Hamilton said. "We just showed that we still need a little more work in some areas, but I feel good about our team. I feel we are moving in the right direction.

"I'm proud of our effort. Our team has a chance to come back next year with a focus."