N.C. STATE 78, FSU 71: Seminoles blow 11-point lead in ACC tournament opener despite inspired play of ailing Tim Pickett.
By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published March 13, 2004
GREENSBORO, N.C. - After his final, inconsequential shot came up short, Florida State star Tim Pickett couldn't bear to look at the scoreboard or stick around for the perfunctory handshakes with North Carolina State players.
He could only shake his head, abruptly untuck his soaked jersey and limp toward the locker room.
"It's real painful," he said.
No, not the hyperextended right ankle sustained in the regular-season finale that left his playing status in doubt until game time Friday night. No, not the sprained right ankle sustained early in the second half that turned his body into a tape dispenser.
Instead, the ache came from squandering an 11-point second-half lead to the No. 17-ranked and No. 2-seeded Wolfpack. FSU fell 78-71 in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, a game the Seminoles believed they had to win to ensure their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1998.
"We had a special year," Pickett said, "but we had a lot of games that we came up short in, and this game caught up with us. Again."
Now, the Seminoles (18-13) must wait to see if their eye-catching wins against North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Maryland are enough to offset the negatives, including no conference road wins, a weak nonconference schedule and a 3-7 mark down the stretch, including five straight losses. But those were to ranked opponents, and none was by more than seven points. In all, the Seminoles lost eight by that margin.
"I've enjoyed going to the NCAA Tournament so many times, but I also understand that there's not a whole lot we can do at this point," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "There are so many variables that I'm sure come into play. If you ask me whether I think we're one of the top 64 teams in the country, yes, we are. I don't think there's any doubt about that."
"All of us who just watched them play can easily bear witness to how good they are," N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. "That's a hell of a basketball team, and as biased as I may be as a representative of the ACC, I've got to believe they're one of the best 64 teams."
Most observers aren't optimistic about FSU's chances, and school officials have hedged their bets and submitted a bid to host NIT games. FSU has scheduling conflicts, most notably with the NCAA women's tournament in town next week, but could host games on March 23, 24 or 25 (second round and quarterfinals).
But the Seminoles sure looked NCAA-bound thanks to the inspiring play of the injured Pickett.
"Coach told me when I came in to see how it goes in warmup, and it felt pretty good, so I just went out and tried to help my team," said the senior guard, who finished with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 6 of 10 from 3-point range.
With his team down 34-31, Pickett, benefiting by the absence of Wolfpack defensive stopper Scooter Sherrill (muscle tear in his left foot), answered with three straight 3-pointers. In the two regular-season meetings, Pickett had two 3-pointers.
With freshman guard Von Wafer coming off the bench to add a 3-point threat (he finished with 14 points), the Seminoles took a 51-40 lead with 13:14 left that all but silenced the partisan N.C. State crowd among the 23,745 fans at the Greensboro Coliseum. But junior swingman Julius Hodge, senior forward Marcus Melvin and sophomore center Ilian Evtimov weren't done.
Two Hodge free throws gave his team a 65-64 lead with 3:35 left, but Pickett answered with a 3-pointer. Hodge tied it with two more free throws, then Melvin hit a 3-pointer and Hodge scored on a fastbreak layup. Evtimov sealed the comeback with two free throws with 23.8 seconds left before Hodge punctuated it with a breakaway dunk.
"Even though it appears we've come up a little short, I think our team has grown and developed and gotten better and better with this challenge," Hamilton said of the past five games.
But for Pickett, it was just painful to think about.
