December 10, 2006

Chris Nee
Warchant.com

After struggling with slow starts to begin the season, Florida State is now making it habit of coming out of the gates on fire.

For the third straight game, Florida State scored over 50 points in the first half to put the contest away early against a lesser opponent. Playing their first game at home since a 70-66 win last Sunday over defending national champion Florida, the 'Noles led 55-30 at halftime. That commanding lead was thanks to a 30-6 run after Southeastern Louisiana took an early 7-3 lead.

The 'Noles led by as many as 32 points at one point, but cruised through most of the second half never letting the visiting Lions seriously threaten their stranglehold on the game.

"Once again I thought we got off to a good start," Head Coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I thought our guys played with a tremendous amount of energy in the first five or ten minutes and we created some offense from our defense which we have not been doing on a consistent basis. We moved the ball, made the extra pass, and got some easy opportunities and I thought it gave us some confidence."

The 'Noles, who played their fourth game in eight days, moved to 8-2 on the season with the 88-62 win over the Lions. It also marked FSU's fourth straight victory.

"After coming off two road losses we maintained our focus and battled the little bug that we have been going through," Hamilton said. "Overall, I am pleased and feel that we are moving in the right direction and once again, like a broken record, we still have a ways to go."

Jason Rich scored 16 points on the day to lead five Seminoles in double figures. Sophomore Casaan Breeden added a career-high 13 points for the 'Noles. Isaiah Swann added 12 for while Toney Douglas and All-America candidate Al Thornton chipped in with 10.

Following the two blowout road losses to Pittsburgh and Wisconsin, FSU has been much sharper in the early going both offensively and defensively. The improved early production is a big reason for FSU's current winning streak and is a positive sign with the all-important ACC schedule right around the corner.

"I do think focus is better," Rich said. "I think we are being a lot more receptive to coaching. We are understanding how to go from good to great."

Despite the impressive showing in the first half, the players were again lethargic in the second half only outscoring an outmanned SE Louisiana team 33-32. Sunday's late effort, and the previous second half letdowns, have Hamilton concerned.

"Even though we are making progress with understanding our system from an offensive standpoint we are still are not rebounding nearly as well and then in the second half the demon of turnovers seemed to raise it's ugly head as we made a rash of unforced turnovers," Hamilton said. "I felt that we have made tremendous improvement in that area, and we have, but we have to go ahead and address those two issues as we move into these next three games."

On the whole, Sunday had to be considered another positive outing -- FSU shot 55 percent as a team from the field and 85.7 percent from the free throw line, including a perfect 13-for-13 in the first half, and out-rebounded Southeastern Louisiana 36-34. The issue though is that only 10 of their rebounds came on the offensive glass and the Seminoles had 19 turnovers compared to only 13 assists.

Florida State will take this week off for final exams. They will return to the court next Monday against High Point at 7 p.m. at the Leon County Civic Center.

NOTE

An intestinal virus forced freshman point guard Josue Soto as well as Assistant Coach Tim Carter to stay home for Sunday's contest.

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