University of Minnesota Athletics
MBB: Florida State Rallies To Defeat Gophers 70-69
11/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Florida State closed the game with a 21-6 run over the last seven minutes to defeat Minnesota 70-69 this evening in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Williams Arena. The Gophers controlled much of the game, leading for over 36 minutes but a Von Wafer three-pointer with 1:38 gave FSU the lead for good. Vincent Grier led Minnesota with 23 points while Wafer had a team-high 19. Minnesota fell to 2-3 while Florida State improved to 3-3.
The Gophers opened up a 63-49 lead with 7:29 remaining on a steal and layup by Rico Tucker. From there, the Seminoles chipped away at the lead and held the Gophers without a field goal for over seven minutes. A three-pointer by Von Wafer with 7:15 on the clock started a 16-0 FSU run. Todd Galloway capped the run with another trey to give Florida State a 65-63 lead with 2:11 left. Jeff Hagen converted two free throws to tie the game but Wafer drilled another three to put FSU up 68-65 with 1:38 on the clock. After a Vincent Grier free throw, Al Thornton nailed a driving layup to make the score 70-66 with 14 seconds left. On the Aaron Robinson made a trey to pull the Gophers within one with six seconds to go. After Robinson fouled Galloway, he missed the free throw. Brent Lawson missed a 35-foot desperation shot as time expired.
Florida State was woeful to open the second half, starting 1-of-9 from the field. The Gophers opened a 59-47 lead on a Grier jumper with 11:45 remaining.
The Gophers took the lead at 3-2 on a Grier trey and held the lead for over 36 minutes. Another Grier three at the 11:43 mark gave Minnesota an 18-10 lead. The lead swelled to 12 points at 34-22 on a Robinson three. However, the Seminoles gave themselves life with a 16- 7 run to end the half, making the tally 41-38 at halftime. Minnesota shot 55 percent from the floor and made 8-of-12 treys in the opening stanza. Florida State was equally impressive, shooting 65 percent from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point land.
The Gophers shot 44 percent from the floor for the game but were just 10-of-30 in the second half. In addition to Grier's 23 points, Dan Coleman scored 14 and Robinson added 11. Tucker came off the bench with 10 points and four steals.
Thornton scored 12 points for FSU while Galloway added 10.
The Gophers return to action on Saturday afternoon against Holy Cross. The tip is set for 1 p.m.
POST-GAME NOTES
Minnesota is now 3-3 overall in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and 1-1 against Florida State in the Challenge.
Minnesota is tied with Florida State in the all-time series 4-4.
Vincent Grier has scored in double-figures in all five games he has played as a Gopher.
Grier registered his third 20-point game of the season.
Grier recorded his first career three-pointer as a Gopher and had a game and season career high for three-pointers made (3) and attempted (5).
Grier had a career-high 16 field goal attempts.
The Gophers' 10 three-pointers surpassed their previous season high of seven three- pointers against Furman and were the most three-pointers in a game since the team had 10 against Penn State (3/6/04).
The Gophers started the game converting 8 of their first 10 three- pointers.
Dan Coleman scored in double figures for the fourth time in the first five games.
Coleman had a career high 17 field goal attempts.
Rico Tucker scored in double figures for the third time this season
Tucker registered career highs in field goals and field goal attempts.
All eight Gophers who played against Florida State had at least two rebounds.
Post-Game Quotes
Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson
"I think it's evident that we're still a young team with a lot of new faces. We played tentative defensively in the first half and then we were tentative offensively late in the second half. I think it was a case of looking at the clock and not continuing to move on offense. "
"A lot of their run was off of our offense and then running it right at us. They got a lot of points off transition. We were trying to post Vincent Grier and run our offense through him, but they did a good job of taking him away as the game progressed."
"There's no way to ensure that this won't happen again. That's athletics and it's what the preseason is for. This team has a new point guard and a lot of new faces. So does it happen again? I hope not and I'll work to fix it. That's my job."
"I told them it would be the same practice tomorrow whether we won or lost. This team needs to be better to compete in the Big Ten. And that comes with character and so I'm not worried about that with this team."
"I wish we weren't 2-3 and that we could have been rewarded. They did a lot of what we asked them to do tonight, but it just wasn't enough."
Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
"Obviously this was a very big win for our basketball team against a team I thought was shooting the ball very well and playing as a team. This is a team that is similar to ours, trying to integrate new players into the program. We both are in a learning process. Minnesota played well, but fortunately we got hot down the stretch."
"When we were down 14 points I told our team that we had to grow up, we had to stay focused and make plays. So we had to grow and hopefully we can go on from here."
Minnesota senior center Jeff Hagen
"Yeah, I'm sick of learning experiences, we played like a deer in the headlights the last seven minutes out there. Defensively, we fell apart, and on offense for a stretch we just couldn't hit. This is a young team, and I don't want to use that as an excuse, but one of these days we'll get a win, and it will be a big win."
"It got a little bit out of hand. They started hitting shots; they're an awfully talented team. Once they get going, not too many teams will stop them."
Minnesota junior guard Vincent Grier
"We mentally broke down in the second half. We're going to come back and play better. We're going to go work harder and harder everyday. We'll get over the hump, and we'll win a couple of games, not just one. We know we can win these games, and we'll prove that."
"I came here and tried to just set a tone. That's what I'm here for; I don't care if you are talking defense, offense, or whatever. So I'm not surprised at the impact I've had. I just want to help this team win, and we will get there."
Minnesota freshman guard Rico Tucker
"Every loss is difficult. Being the competitor I am, whether it's basketball, hopscotch, or a race with a friend, I always want to win. We're not going to hold our heads down about tonight; that game is 30 minutes in the past. We know we can play with any team in the country."
"Down the stretch we played not to lose instead of playing to win. That happens when you have a team with 10 to 12 players playing together for the first time. We gained a valuable learning experience tonight. Basketball is a game of runs, we'll look at things on tape, learn and get better."
