Game blog: Florida State beats N.C. State 78-65
Soloman Alabi of Florida State gets off a shot over N.C. State's Dennis Horner during the first half on December 13, 2008.
Jan 13, 2009
9:00 p.m., Closer than the score: State got outscored 15-2 since making the lineup changes at the five minute mark. The unit he took out was really playing well together. Julius Mays had a career high 13 points in the game. Toney Douglas had 21 points in the Seminoles win.
8:54 p.m., FSU well ahead: This group that Lowe put in the game at the five minute mark didn't produce. They gave up the lead and fell behind now by eight with a couple minutes to play. Toney Douglas leads all with 18 points for FSU. The seven footer Solomon Alabi has 12 points. FSU will go on to win this game barring something crazy. This lineup has scored only two points since they came into the game for State.
8:46 p.m., Costner, McCauley back in: The two leading scorers on the season are coming back in for the time being with five minutes to play. I guess they are out of the dog house for the time being. They have hardly seen the floor this whole half, but the back-ups got the lead back for State. Right now FSU is on a 10-2 run and leads 67-63 shortly after the Pack got out to a 61-57 lead. As things get worse in the timeout a pep band member took out assistant coach Pete Strickland! Oh my times are tough! He's okay though.
8:36 p.m., Strange lineup for Sidney: I don't know how long they have been out, but Fells seems to be the only starter playing in this half. McCauley, Costner, Ferguson, and Williams have a secure spot on the bench and it doesn't seem they will get back in. Sidney Lowe has said that if he doesn't think guys are giving 100 percent effort than they won't play. He has made that pretty simple. The Pack lead 58-57 with guys like Johhny Thomas, Julius Mays, Dennis Horner, and Tracy Smith on the floor. Mays stepped it up a little there knocking down a couple shots, it's just his handles that need improving. There are less than eight minutes left to play. Mays just hit a jumper and got fouled. State is up 60-57 with 7:21 to go. It is a career high for Mays who now has 10 points.
8:28 p.m., Fells is back: He came back to the bench and then back in the game. He leads the Pack with 12 points right now. FSU took a 50-48 lead with 11:37 left in the game. The crowd started getting into it as the point guards looked like a nightmare for State. Javi came in and committed three turnovers in the span of a minute. Mays had one of his own moments later. Right now they can't get any consistency out of that spot. You almost want a big man to bring the ball up the floor. The moment any kind of pressure is put on these points it seems they turn it over.
8:17 p.m., Fells came up gimpy: Courtney took the ball strong to the rim and drew the foul. They counted the basket on a goaltend. It was a nice play to not charge into the guy. He did come up limping as we know he has missed some time with the ankle injury. He is favoring the left ankle. After the next stop Fells came out and went into the tunnel. Wolfpack fans will hope he is okay.
8:06 p.m., Another quick start for the Pack: Fells has nine points and Costner now has 10 as they lead FSU 39-37. They started this half like they started the first one, let's just hope the middle isn't the same. Julius Mays started the half while Farnold sat down.
7:58 p.m., Halftime numbers: Now that the little ball handlers are off the court I'll give you some stats. Then maybe State can recruit the halftime talent for the second half here. Toney Douglas leads all with 10 points on 5-9 shooting. Courtney Fells has seven points for the Pack on 3-7 shooting. Costner has seven as well, going 2-6 from the field. Both teams have 16 rebounds. State had nine turnovers in the first half to five assists. They are shooting 38 percent to FSU's 52 percent.
7:50 p.m, State got better towards the end: They looked much better there as they cut into this 12 point FSU lead. Courtney Fells took over as he ran the floor well, finishing one time and dishing out an assist the other. C.J. Williams has been off the radar the last few games but he is getting minutes tonight, with five points late in the half. Brandon Costner has seven points but hardly played (10 mins) after his hot start to the game in the first five minutes. State trails 35-32 at the half. The little guys are playing ball right now. There are some good moves out there. It's like the And 1 mix tape tour out here!
7:45 p.m., State lifts the crowd: It's 32-27 with FSU in front. The Pack went on a 5-0 run with a C.J. Williams three, and a Fells steal and finish.
7:39 p.m., Keeps getting worse: Florida State is up 26-16 and State took a timeout. They are giving up easy lay-ups and they are ice cold shooting. They cannot get in a groove. They turned it over a couple times in a row as well. FSU will be at the line shooting two after the break. FSU is on a 22-4 run right now. It's just plain ugly. Toney Douglas has 10 points to lead all.
7:31 p.m., Not really good: It amazes me how quickly the life gets sucked out of this team. They are doing little to nothing well right now. They are getting shots blocked in the post. They are taking poor shots. They are not getting back on defense. Ferguson just had the old air-bank ball and then gave up a three on defense on the other end. FSU is up 20-16 and it seems like it should be much worse. Costner is still stuck on seven points, I haven't even noticed him in the game since the first few minutes.
7:25 p.m., State cooling off: I take back everything I said about State. Just like that they can cool off in a game. They still lead 14-13 with 10:39 left in the half but they turned it over a few times in the last few minutes. FSU's Chris Singleton skied in and slammed in one after catching a rebound off the rim. It gave even the home crowd a little wow. The upper bowl here is pretty empty. You'd like to see more for the ACC home opener.
7:14 p.m., State out early: The Pack are already doing better than they did against Clemson. They scored more in the first three minutes than they had in the first ten at Clemson. Brandon Costner has come to play. It's the best three minute stretch I've seen him have all season. He has seven points and already knocked down a triple. He even clanked two at the line but other than that he's been great. He came back after he hit the three and had a huge grin on his face, then stole a ball down below. The Pack lead 12-4 with 15:01 left in the first. They look fired up.
7:02 p.m., Let's go: I Just found out Seminole big man Uche Echefu is in the starting lineup for the first time this season. His scoring is down as a senior so far, averaging just over 7 points per game. As far as the point guard position goes for N.C. State Farnold Degand gets the start. Sidney Lowe said on his coaches show he is ready for one of the guys to step out and claim that role as their own for good, instead of the three man rotation there with Mays and Gonzalez. We are set for tip, see you in four minutes!
6:41 p.m., Closing in on tip-off: I just got to the arena ten minutes ago, and I haven't headed out to the floor just yet. There is a lovely pre-game meal for the media. The menu......a nice glass of nothing. In listening to Sidney Lowe's coaches show on The Fan last night the guy to watch is Toney Douglas. What a great four year college player he is. He averaged nearly 17 a game at Auburn as a true freshmen. He sat out one year and has averaged at least 12 point per game in each year at Florida State. He's a fifth year guy with tons of experience. He also sticks an "e" into the spelling of Tony. It's good to be different.
