IrishIllustrated.com - Noles on the road to take on No. 3 Pittsburgh

November 24, 2006

Florida State's extended preseason officially ends this evening at 7:30 P.M.

The 'Noles (4-0) will open a stretch of three consecutive games against top 10-ranked opponents when it faces No. 3 Pittsburgh (5-0) at the Peterson Events Center. Pittsburgh, who currently has a 16 game non-conference home winning streak, leads the all-time series 7-1.

After facing the Panthers, FSU will travel to Wisconsin to the play the Badgers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday before returning home to face defending National Champions and No. 1 ranked Florida on December 3rd. The three straight games mark the most difficult stretch in out-of-conference play for the Seminoles in their five seasons under Leonard Hamilton, but according to FSU's head coach he would prefer they take them one game at a time.

"I have been coaching a long time and I am not sure that anytime during my coaching career that I have been put in a situation where I have played a stretch like this out-of-conference," Hamilton said. "We should not look at it as a three game stretch as opposed to just a one game (at a time) opportunity."

The 'Noles have won their first four games by an average of 15 points but they have yet to perform at a high level for an entire game. Their first three games were marked by slow starts and in their fourth game against New Orleans, the team came out on fire establishing at 42-14 halftime lead but struggled throughout the second half finally securing a 69-50 victory.

That kind of inconsistency won't work if FSU hopes to emerge from the three-game stretch with a couple wins.

Against Pittsburgh, the biggest challenge the under-sized 'Noles will face is senior center Aaron Gray, the preseason Big East player of the year. So far this season, the 7-foot, 270-pound center is shooting over 66 percent from the field while averaging team highs of 17.6 points and 10.6 rebounds. Gray is not the only reason for concern for FSU -- the Panthers as they return an experienced team that has established themselves as a strong contender from the Big East title.

"They have four starters returning and they are very experienced," Hamilton said. "They are a seasoned team that has been in big games, that had a good season last year, and lost very little so they are a team that is going to be the ultimate challenge for us at this stage of our development."

Florida State will attempt to combat the Panthers' experienced talent with senior forward Al Thornton, an All-ACC Candidate, who has been the 'Noles leading scorer in all four games averaging 16 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Thornton has also had help from his supporting cast, namely point guard Toney Douglas (10.8 ppg) and shooting guard Jason Rich (9.8 ppg).

Tonight's game also marks an opportunity for Florida State, who was snubbed from the NCAA Tournament last year due to a weak out-of-conference schedule. Beating a ranked opponent on the road for the first time since a win at No. 17 Maryland back in 2001 would go a long way to improving FSU's perception and RPI. It won't be easy though as history proves -- the 'Noles have not won a road game against an top 5 opponent since winning at North Carolina back on Dec. 15, 1991, in their inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference game.

So does the outcome of an early season contest against a top-five opponent hold a great deal of weight for Florida State's 2006-2007 campaign? Not according to Hamilton, who says it is simply the fifth game in a long regular season.

"It will be the fifth game of the year, I am not real sure anything this early in the season can define you," Hamilton said. "We have no delusions that we are a work-in-progress. We haven't even come close to reaching our potential from an execution standpoint and from a maturing standpoint."

The Florida State at Pittsburgh game will not be televised.

Game Notes for Florida State at Pittsburgh