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Noles Pound Georgia State

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Back-to-back losses against Cleveland State and South Florida last weekend in Daytona Beach left Florida State in a lousy mood. Tuesday night, the Seminoles took their frustration out on Georgia State, cruising to a 78-48 victory.

FSU coach Leonard Hamilton gave the Seminoles (4-2) a passing grade for snapping out of their early season funk, but he expects more when FSU travels to 25th-Florida on Friday.

"Overall, I would probably grade this as a B-minus, C-plus type game," Hamilton said. "I think we've got to do a lot better than that to get where we want to go."

Behind Uche Echefu's soft touch in the first half - he scored 12 of his game-high 18 points before halftime - FSU led 35-21 at the break, forcing the Panthers (0-3) into 14 turnovers. Georgia State trimmed the lead to 50-40 on a layup by Justin Billingslea with 9:12 remaining, but the Noles responded with a 28-8 run to close the game, allowing Hamilton to empty his bench in the final minutes.

FSU forced 26 turnovers, keeping the Panthers winless after they looked helpless in the final nine minutes.

"The way they pressured us, the way they got in the passing lanes, that's the way we're going to do it at Georgia State," said first-year Panthers coach Rod Barnes.

FSU's Isaiah Swann added 14 points, and Toney Douglas chipped in 10. Swann said after the losses in Daytona - one in overtime and one by a point - that the Noles were determined to rebound.

"We cannot pace ourselves," Swann said. "We made it tough for them to run their offense. We've got to get after it for 40 minutes. If we do that, people are going to have trouble."

INSIDE THE GAME

PLAYER OF THE GAME: FSU junior F Uche Echefu scored a game-high 18 points, including 12 as FSU opened a 24-14 lead early in the first half.

STAT OF THE GAME: Georgia State shot 26.1 percent (6-for-23) in the first half.

TURNING POINT: Echefu hit his first shot - a 3-pointer that put FSU ahead 3-2 - and the Noles never trailed again.

UP NEXT: FSU plays at Florida on Friday at 8 p.m.

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.

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