’Noles look to continue success
TALLAHASSEE (AP) – Florida State looks to start the second half of its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule in the same fashion it finished the first half. Well, maybe not exactly.
The Seminoles are back in The Associated Press rankings for the first time in more than 11 years, coming in at No. 25 Monday after taking a 65-61 win over the weekend at Clemson with a furious 23-4 finish keyed by star guard Toney Douglas.
The Seminoles (18-5, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) won’t have much time to enjoy their new status with Virginia (7-12, 1-7) on deck Tuesday looking to avenge a 73-62 loss at home.
“We need to continue winning,” coach Leonard Hamilton said Monday. “We realize we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Hamilton probably would just as soon not fall behind by 19 points as the Seminoles did Saturday at Clemson before wiping out that deficit in the final 14:44 of the game.
Douglas, who has scored over 20 points in the last seven ACC games, had 23 in the upset over 10th-ranked Clemson and scored 21 points on Jan. 24 when FSU defeated the Cavaliers.
“We have to continue to stack successes on top of successes for our team to be where we want to be at the end of the season,” said Hamilton, whose team is ranked for the first time in his seven seasons here.
Florida State has also suffered through 10 consecutive seasons without an NCAA tournament bid.
Meanwhile, the ACC picked Hamilton’s 7-1 freshman center, Solomon Alabi, as the league’s rookie of the week for his performances in last week’s victories over Clemson and Georgia Tech.
Alabi scored 25 points, pulled down 16 rebounds and blocked seven shots in the two games, hitting hit on 10-of-15 from the field. In the win over Clemson, he had a career-high 17 points, nine rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals.
Men’s Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 8, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Connecticut (67) 22-1 1,795 1
2. Oklahoma (3) 23-1 1,710 2
3. N. Carolina (2) 21-2 1,672 3
4. Pittsburgh 21-2 1,583 6
5. Louisville 18-4 1,423 5
6. Duke 20-3 1,350 4
7. Wake Forest 18-3 1,242 7
8. Memphis 20-3 1,237 14
9. Michigan St. 19-4 1,214 13
10. Marquette 20-3 1,137 8
11. UCLA 19-4 1,131 15
12. Clemson 19-3 1,097 10
13. Villanova 19-4 989 17
14. Xavier 20-3 893 9
15. Butler 21-2 762 11
16. Kansas 19-4 751 21
17. Missouri 20-4 395 –
18. Arizona St. 18-5 389 24
19. Gonzaga 17-5 361 18
20. Purdue 17-6 353 12
21. Utah St. 23-1 317 25
22. Illinois 19-5 303 23
23. Syracuse 18-6 280 20
24. Ohio St. 17-5 216 –
25. Florida St. 18-5 182 –
Others receiving votes: LSU 167, Washington 135, Texas 106, Florida 66, Minnesota 43, Dayton 31, California 16, Kansas St. 8, West Virginia 8, Davidson 7, Miami 7, South Carolina 7, Arizona 4, Utah 4, Northeastern 2, San Diego St. 2, Siena 2, Boston College 1, Robert Morris 1, Wis.-Green Bay 1.
Women’s Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ women’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 8, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Connecticut (45) 23-0 1,125 1
2. Oklahoma 20-2 1,080 2
3. California 20-3 1,013 3
4. Duke 19-2 964 4
5. Auburn 23-1 924 6
6. Stanford 19-4 880 7
7. Baylor 19-3 855 8
8. North Carolina 20-3 831 8
9. Florida 22-2 759 11
10. Louisville 21-3 711 5
11. Maryland 18-4 700 13
12. Texas A&M 18-4 613 10
13. Texas 17-5 566 16
14. Florida St. 20-5 490 15
15. Tennessee 17-6 445 12
16. Iowa St. 18-4 413 21
17. Virginia 19-5 385 17
18. Ohio St. 19-4 371 14
19. Pittsburgh 17-4 356 22
20. Kansas St. 19-3 289 18
21. Xavier 20-4 219 23
22. Notre Dame 17-5 205 19
23. S. Dakota St. 22-2 150 24
24. Vanderbilt 18-6 132 20
25. DePaul 18-6 51 25
Others receiving votes: Middle Tennessee 34, Arizona St. 18, Bowling Green 10, Rutgers 8, Michigan St. 5, Georgia Tech 4, Mississippi St. 4, LSU 3, Oklahoma St. 3, Utah 3, Boston College 2, Wis.-Green Bay 2, Gonzaga 1, Minnesota 1.