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Walk-On Gets In On FSU's Fun

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 9, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - All you need to know about Florida State's 95-55 thumping of Maine on Saturday night is this: FSU junior walk-on Brian Hoff scored 15 consecutive points for the Seminoles late in the game.

Yep, it was that kind of night for the Noles, who won their sixth consecutive game.

Hoff's performance - and the Seminoles' school-record 20 3-pointers - had FSU coach Leonard Hamilton joking about going dancing afterward. During Hoff's shooting clinic - Hoff hit five consecutive 3-pointers, the first with 6:12 left - it was his teammates who were dancing on the bench.

Each time Hoff hit a shot, the Noles jumped up to celebrate as Hoff ran up the court with a wide grin on his face.

"It was great," FSU guard Ralph Mims said. "Brian works his butt off in practice. He displayed his ability. It wasn't a surprise to us. Brian can really shoot the ball."
Hoff entered Saturday with 22 career points, but only three this season. He missed his first 3-pointer badly Saturday, but with FSU (9-2) cruising and Maine (4-5) simply trying to keep the deficit from getting any worse, Hoff kept many fans in the stands.

"It was unbelievable for me," Hoff said. "Words can't describe how I felt when everything started dropping."

Following last Sunday's sloppy victory over Samford, Hamilton said that with six days off, the Noles would spend much of the week practicing shooting the ball. In this case, practice certainly paid off, as FSU opened the game on a 15-4 run on two 3-pointers by Jason Rich, two by Isaiah Swann and one by Mims.

That was the ballgame.

"The basket was huge for them," Maine coach Ted Woodward said. "I know they are good shooters, but I think they really felt they were all great shooters. Sometimes that happens when you make a few."

If Hoff's breakout performance isn't enough to illustrate FSU's shooting touch Saturday, consider this: FSU, the nation's leading free-throw shooting team (80.8 percent) coming into the game, shot better from 3-point range (20 of 35, 57.1 percent) than from the foul line (seven of 13, 53.8 percent).

"I never thought we would shoot better from the 3 than we did from the free-throw line," Hamilton said. "I thought we played the game the right way. I'm glad to get a game like this behind us as we go into final exams."

INSIDE THE GAME

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Brian Hoff made an otherwise boring game one to remember.

TURNING POINT: Rich's back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game set the tone.

KEY STAT: FSU's 20 3-pointers were six more shots than it made from inside the 3-point line.

UP NEXT: The Noles travel to Indianapolis to face Butler in the Wooden Tradition on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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