You know you're having a hell of a game when Carson Fields gets a basket.
We absolutely dominated in the 1st half, going on a couple of scoring runs that many (myself included) thought this team wasn't capable of. After an early 3 by FSU's Michael Snaer, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run. We slowed down on offense after that, and FSU took advantage, and the score was 12-10 with just under 13 minutes left in the game. But then the Tigers went on one of the most dominating runs in recent memory, outscoring the Seminoles 20 to zip over the next 8 minutes.
It was the best half of basketball seen out of this team all season, and it was keyed by the best half of basketball ever seen out of Bobo. Yes, he still was a bit awkward on the court at times, at one point letting a rebound slip through his hands and watching it bounce between his legs, and yes, he didn't score a point in the 2nd half. But he looked dominant during the Tigers' 20-0 run, going 3 for 3 from the field (jumper, dunk, layup) and 3-3 from the line. After watching Bobo struggle so much over the past 3 and a half years, it felt really good to see him have such a great stretch. He's got the size to do this kind of thing on a consistent basis; hopefully today's performance will give him the confidence to get it done on a more consistent basis.
I was surprised to see us make so many easy layups. The Seminoles have one of the bigger frontcourts in the conference, but they continually let us slice them right through the paint. Their bigs would often stray to the edges of the paint, and we took advantage. Time and time again, the guy with the ball at the top of the key was able to drive right to the basket almost untouched.
I've criticized this team for not attacking the basket enough, but we attacked it hard today. The Tigers attempted 33 foul shots today. The Seminoles? Just 13. And we didn't just go to the line; we also converted our free throws. We finished 28-33 at the line, and would have gone 30-33 if Andre Young hadn't been poked in the eye before his last trip to the line (He started off 10-10, but missed the last two following the eye poking.).
I also loved seeing us get so many transition points. Every time we got a steal, one of the guys would immediately start streaking down the court, looking for the long pass.
And how about the play from Milton? Yes, he turned it over 3 times, and yes, he badly missed a wide open jumper on the baseline, but he played a hell of a game today, as he finished with 15 points (7-10 from the field, 1-1 at the line), pulled down a team high 8 blocks, and also notched a couple of blocks. He's had some major confidence issues throughout his career, but he was all smiles during the post game Alma mater.
Tanner shot poorly from the field, but he went a perfect 6-6 at the line, and also pulled down 5 rebounds and dished out 4 assists with 0 turnovers.
Andre had his best shooting performance(3-6, 2-4) in a while, and also drove to the basket throughout the game.
Devin Coleman got his first significant minutes of the season. He didn't do much on offense, but his defensive play reminded me of Rod Hall's skill set.
On the negative side, Devin Booker, coming off of a 22-point performance against ETSU, reverted back to his old self. He was in foul trouble for the vast majority of the game, and finished with just 3 rebounds and 5 points.
If this team can play this well every game (a HUGE if), we have a legitimate shot at winning 8 or 9 games in the ACC.