Florida State football coach Jimbo Fisher has nothing on Seminoles basketball coach Leonard Hamilton.
One day after winning a slugfest against sixth-ranked Duke in the ACC semifinals, Hamilton?s No.?17 Seminoles (24-9) won the school?s first ACC basketball tournament championship, upsetting the fourth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels 85-82 in the final on Sunday afternoon.
?I think it?s a great accomplishment because [ACC] history is so rich,? senior guard Luke Loucks said. ?A couple of years ago when Coach Hamilton brought us in he said, ?You can really change the culture of Florida State basketball.? [Now] we?re stepping in the right direction and doing that and making our mark.?
Historically a football school, Florida State defeated two of the most storied programs in college basketball history on consecutive days to capture its first ACC title. Loucks and junior guard Michael Snaer both made the All-ACC tournament team, and Snaer (18 points against North Carolina) was the tournament MVP, earning rave reviews from Duke coach Mike Kryzewski and UNC coach Roy Williams along the way.
The Seminoles started out strong in the first half on Sunday, shooting 62.5 percent from the field and entering the locker room at halftime leading 49-40.
Florida State opened up its lead to 16 in the second half behind excellent three-point shooting and a swarming defense. But unlike their regular-season meeting, when North Carolina lost to the Seminoles by 33, the Tar Heels did not quit on Sunday.
?We didn?t play well in the first half. We didn?t play well in the first part of the second half,? Williams said. ?[But] the last 12 minutes it was the North Carolina team that I have seen recently, and it?s the team I like and we want to be.?
Said Loucks: ?We knew North Carolina was going to make a run. We knew they weren?t just going to give up. It was like a home-crowd environment for them. With every shot they hit, it got loud and louder.?
North Carolina?s onslaught slowly pulled it to within reach of Florida State until sophomore guard Kendall Marshall?s three-pointer made it a one-point FSU lead, 83-82, with just 30 seconds remaining.
After an Okaro White miss from the free-throw stripe, North Carolina attempted to go ahead on the ensuing possession, but senior guard Deividas Dulkys grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled.
Dulkys, who decimated North Carolina with 32 points during the regular season, made both free throws to extend the lead to three with just seconds remaining.
?I didn?t hear [the fans],? said Dulkys of the pro-UNC crowd at Philips Arena. ?I heard the noise, but it was just me and the rim, and nobody else was there.?
The Tar Heels attempted one final three-pointer to tie the game, but freshman guard P.J. Hairston?s shot rimmed out.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/11/2689011/florida-state-seminoles-upend.html
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