Colleges

This time, FSU shows finishing touch

By JAMEY GIVENS, Times Correspondent
Published November 21, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Midway through the second half Tuesday night, with Florida State nursing a 17-point lead, coach Leonard Hamilton barked at his point guard, Toney Douglas.

"Don't let up," he shouted.

With the two games that slipped away in the closing minutes last weekend lingering, the Seminoles kept the pressure on to rattle off a 15-4 run and seal a 78-48 win over Georgia State.

"He is trying to get us in the mind-set that we can't slack off," Douglas said. "That came in to a factor this weekend. We all have to lock in and stay concentrated. It's not our ability, it's a mental thing."

The Seminoles (4-2) played with plenty of energy on the perimeter, pressuring the ball and jumping the passing lanes. They finished with 15 steals, and Georgia State (0-3) turned the ball over 26 times, leading to 33 points.

"They are a quick, athletic bunch of perimeter players," Georgia State coach Rod Barnes said. "Hopefully by the end of the season we can be as active as they were on the perimeter."

The Seminoles could not duplicate the effort inside, allowing the Panthers to pull down 21 offensive rebounds. Though Georgia State scored only 11 second-chance points, Hamilton was not happy.

"It is a real point of concern," he said. "If you hold a more talented team to 32 percent, and they get 21 offensive rebounds, at least a third of those will turn into baskets or fouls."

Uche Echefu scored a career-high 18 on 6-of-7 shooting, Isaiah Swann had 14 and Douglas added 10, but as has been the case early in the season, the Seminoles struggled inside. They scored 18 in the paint out of their halfcourt set and relied heavily on jump shots.

"Obviously we didn't have the proper balance," Hamilton said. "We are not mustering enough of an inside attack to compete at the level we want to compete at. It's like we are making it more difficult than it really is."

Next is a trip to No.25 Florida on Friday. The Seminoles, and their backcourt of upperclassmen, would normally be a favorite over a team that lost all five starters from a year ago. But Hamilton said the young Gators don't look too different from the team FSU upset last season.

"It seems as though they haven't missed a beat," he said. "They don't play like rookies."

FSU SIGNING: Former Jacksonville Raines standout point guard Derwin Kitchen, a runnerup for Mr. Basketball as a senior and a one-time Florida signee who didn't qualify, has orally committed to FSU, his junior college coach said. The 6-4 Kitchen, who was at St. John's briefly before transferring to Iowa Western Community College in January, is still considered a freshman and must finish his AA degree. Coach Jim Morris said Kitchen is doing well in school and is taking full loads to graduate in the summer.

Times staff writer Brian Landman contributed to this report.

FSU 78

Ga. State 48

XX innings

[Last modified November 21, 2007, 12:10:30]