March 13, 2007

Derek Redd, Osceola
Warchant.com

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The Florida State men's basketball team and the Tuesday night Tucker Center crowd went from first gear to fifth in just four strides of Al Thornton's legs.

Thornton needed just four steps to get from half-court to one step inside the free throw line, where he launched for a dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy and sparked the Seminoles to a 77-61 win over Toledo in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The Seminoles (21-12) will try to maintain that momentum Thursday, when they host Michigan in the second round at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU. The Wolverines beat Utah State in the NIT's first round, 68-58.

With the Rockets hanging tough with the Seminoles at the beginning of the first half, Thornton figured he needed to do something to create a spark. Channeling Julius Erving was his answer.

"I just wanted to try to do something to excite the fans, that's all," he said. "When I took off, I just felt comfortable. There wasn't nothing planned."

Thornton, a unanimous All-ACC first teamer, scored a game-high 24 points with an array of dunks and circus shots. He added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. In 2? minutes in the first half, he scored eight points and lobbed a pass to Isaiah Swann for an easy lay-up.

"That was the turning point of the game," he said. "Everyone knew we needed to turn it on, because they weren't going to go away. They were going to keep coming."

The streaking Seminoles pleased coach Leonard Hamilton, who said his team couldn't have been any lower emotionally than they were the Monday after being snubbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

"Our biggest concern going into this game was how we'd bounce back emotionally," Hamilton said. "I must say I was somewhat pleasantly surprised that we were focused at the beginning of the game."

Thornton scored 15 first-half points, pushing his career total past Dave Cowens for sole possession of eighth place in the FSU history books. The Seminoles pulled away after that, as Thornton's basket with less than a minute to go gave FSU a 39-23 lead it took into the halftime break.

The Rockets (19-13) didn't help themselves shooting just 29 percent from the floor in the first half and committing 10 turnovers the Seminoles transformed into 17 points.

"They're long and they're athletic to say the least," Toledo coach Stan Joplin said. "We don't run into many teams like that. Our guys hung in there as much as we possibly could."

Toledo cut Florida State's lead to single digits once in the second half, when Keonta Howell's free throws with 15:22 remaining made the score 45-36. But the Seminoles ran off again, thanks in part to Thornton's second dunk of the second half and a shot flipped over his head just minutes later.

Swann scored 12 points for Florida State, while Jason Rich and Ryan Reid each added 10. Justin Ingram was Toledo's leading scorer with 17 points, including three 3-pointers.

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